Just So You Know
by kiwiosity
Summary: ZC: Zach is notorious for pulling the vanishing act whenever a girl gets too attached him. But after disappearing to Korea for two years, he realizes something was different about Cammie, and he has to prove it.
1. the doldrums aren't too bad

if you love zach enough, let's get OMZ going around. or say that omg stands for ohmygoode.

* * *

"Open up, Cam!"

Cammie Morgan groaned and rubbed her eyes. She checked the time. Two in the afternoon. She sat up and looked around. There were discarded beer bottles and a half-empty bag of Lay's scattered around her couch. She thought about picking them up. But really, it depended on who was at the door.

"Who is it?"

"Grant!"

Forget cleaning up. Grant didn't care. She went to open the door.

"What do you want?" She asked lazily. Grant stood back, surprised.

"Bex told me you were in bad shape," Grant said. "But not this bad."

"Great, so do I get a fruit basket or something?" She rubbed her forehead and went into the kitchen, Grant following her. The door shut closed automatically behind him. She rummaged around her fridge.

"No, no fruit basket." Grant flinched as he entered the kitchen. It was worse than the living room. "Look, Cam, it's been two years."

"Since what?"

"You know what."

Cammie popped up, a milk carton in one hand and a box of cereal in another. "Oh. That. Is that bowl clean?" She pointed to a bowl next to Grant.

"No."

"Great. Hand it to me."

"Oh come on, Cammie. You know those.. types of guys. You should've expected it. Not to mention, it's been two years."

"Yeah. You established that. And those types of guys..."

"Your lifestyle is horrible. Everyone is seriously getting worried."

"I'm fine," she argued, pouring the cereal into the bowl.

"Your field work is great. You've taken out half of the criminal world. But look-" Grant held up a spoon, which was encrusted with something molding. "-at this."

"Give me that," Cammie said. She rinsed in it in her sink and ate her cereal. "I'm fine. My pay is great. I watch _ER_ everyday. I'm fine."

"If you're doing so fine, come with me and Bex to her birthday dinner."

Cammie rolled her eyes. "Is this another set-up? Because your last cousin was disgusting."

"Says the girl eating out of an old bowl and a moldy spoon," Grant pointed out. "No. The whole team is going to be there. You just need to... socialize. Come on, Cammie."

Cammie stopped for a moment. Then, in a flash, the bowl was in pieces on the floor, and she was next to Grant. She grabbed his arm, wrapped it around his back, kicked open the door, and threw him out. Literally. "Get out."

"Shit, Cam, I think you broke my arm!" Grant cried.

"Stop trying to make me feel better." Cammie snapped. "I'll call you an ambulance."

"Great. Thanks."

* * *

_"Zach Goode. You know what to do." Beep._

_"I think I might've said something to you. Well, I mean of course I probably said something, because you're Zach Goode, and you're **never **wrong-."_

_"Am I being a cynic for thinking that-"  
_

_"Okay, look. We have a mission in three days. It's doable by one person, but two people ensure safety and protection, and everyone else has evened out."_

_"Korea, huh. Really? You couldn't even stay in America?"_

_"This is an attempt to guilt trip you. I got shot. And** fuck**, it , not now, but it did then."_

_"If you've been taken in by a terrorist, tell the terrorist to pass this message along. I'm on probation for 'sloppy' and 'irresponsible' actions and reactions. I swear to God, if you lose me my job, **I will kill you**."

* * *

_

Cammie woke up suddenly. Nightmare. Dream. Nightmare. Dream. Voices swirled around her head for a moment, and then the phone rang.

"Hello?" Cammie answered, but in her dazed state, it sounded more like 'lo'.

"Cammie! Please tell me it isn't true," Bex cried.

"What?"

"Did you break my fiancé's arm?"

Cammie paused. "Um..."

"Oh, Cammie," Bex sighed.

"Sorry." Cammie apologized. "I was on a rage spiral."

"Cammie, you are so out of it." Bex said.

"He criticized me."

"You don't just go around and break people's arms, Cam."

"I'm sorry! I just- I dunno, he was annoying me. Do you want me to pay your hospital bills? I mean-"

"Cammie, I just want you to be Cammie again. Come to my birthday thing. Macey and Liz and everyone will be there." Bex pleaded. She sighed.

"Okay, okay, whatever, fine." She said. "What do you want for your birthday?"

"Nothing, except for you to be there." Bex said. "And to have fun."

"Fat chance," she yawned.

"Try, at least."

"Okay, I will."

"Thank you, Cammie. You were starting to scare me." Bex paused. "And also, I want you to meet someone-"

"No. No way." Cammie interrupted.

"Please?" Bex asked. "Just one little meeting. He's new to the team. And he's totally sweet."

"No."

"Well, I'm inviting him anyways," Bex said.

"Yeah, I'm hanging up now. Bye."

Click.

* * *

Zach Goode entered the store five minutes before it closed.

"We're closing up soon," the cashier said. Zach nodded, going to the back where all the drinks were. He chose a bottle of Coke and began to walk back, when some M&M's caught his eye. He stared at them for a second, then chose two yellow bags of peanut M&M's and made way to the register. "Will that be all?"

"Yeah," Zach confirmed.

"Four dollars even." Zach handed over a bill as the cashier bagged the items. "You can keep the change."

"Thanks, man," the cashier replied, smiling. He probably thought he had made a friend. "Have a nice night."

Spies can only try.

* * *

45731. That was the passcode for him two years ago. Hopefully, it hadn't changed. "Accepted. Zachary Goode. Level nine clearance." A robotic voice droned. Zach smiled a little bit, then pushed open the door.

He faced the Gallagher Wing of the CIA. It was just how he remembered it. Offices on one side. Everything else on the other. A small cafeteria at the very end.

A head popped out an office a little bit ahead of him.

"Hey, man," his old best friend said. Zach walked a bit closer. "Holy-"

The figure fell out of his chair. "Holy shit, is that you?"

"Hey, Grant," Zach greeted. "Nice to see you."

"Um, you too," Grant said. "You do realize it's been two years, right?"

"Yeah." Zach nodded.

"I can't believe your back," Grant said, sitting up in his chair again. "The timing is actually kind of ironic. Come in." Zach stepped inside the office, which had a new addition: a framed picture of Bex with a shiny ring on her fourth finger.

"Wow, you-"

"Proposed, yeah," Grant finished, signing something on his desk. He flipped a page, filled out a couple more, flipped another page, and circled something.

"Paperwork this late?" Zach asked. "When did you start working so hard?"

Grant raised his eyebrows. "Actually, I've only been working for a few hours. I was in the clinic for a broken arm." He held up a broken arm.

"What'd you get that from?" Zach asked, sitting down.

Grant blinked. "Um, I fell down some stairs."

"Wow, you haven't changed at all," Zach said, laughing. Grant gave a nervous laugh and scrawled something down.

"I can probably think of some people who have changed. A lot," he muttered.

"What was that?"

Grant looked up. "Nothing." He finished up the last page. "Well, everyone missed you."

Zach nodded. Grant was a terrible liar. Zach often wondered why he chose this field.

"Everyone meaning..." Zach asked.

"You know. The team. Or, what's left of it. Two years, man. That's a long time."

"Yeah, I am aware I was away longer than I intended," Zach said carefully. "The mission was harder than expected."

"Because it was the mission that kept you in Siberia," Grant muttered.

"Korea, first of all," Zach corrected. "What do you mean 'What's left of the team'?"

Grant shuffled his papers and scanned them.

"Like I said, two years is a long time. People have left, been replaced, promoted," Grant started. "You left, Liz went to the analytical field, Mick went to weaponry, two guys named Josh and Will replaced you and Cammie in the PA department-"

Zach frowned. "Cammie left the Gallagher?"

Grant sighed. "Yeah. Lots has changed."

"I can see that," Zach said, surprised. He leaned back. "Hey- does she still live in the same apartment?"

Grant froze. "You aren't going to try and see her, are you?"

"Well, I mean, why wouldn't I?"

Grant snorted. "Well, you're Zach Goode. I think she hates you."

"I'll apologize," Zach said confidently. "It's not my fault the CIA decided to-"

"Was it, Zach?" Grant asked. "Because you guys had hit the month mark, and that's when you usually... " Grant paused. "Nevermind."

"Tell me," Zach said, sitting up. Grant tapped away at his computer for a few seconds.

"Well, it's just, this isn't exactly the first time it's happened." Grant explained.

"What's happened?"

"You- running away from your... I don't even know what to call it. Your closet buddy?" Grant said, screwing up his face. "Your sex friend? I would call them hookers, except I know you don't pay-"

"What?" Zach cut him off, trying to understand.

Grant sighed. Sure, they were best friends, but there were some things even Grant couldn't tell Zach. "This happens a couple times a year." Grant said vaguely.

"That's informational."

"You seriously want the truth?"

"Yes, I do."

Pause.

"Okay. Well, every month, you decide you want some girl. So, you sweet talk her into the janitor's closet, or into your apartment, or the backseat of your car -actually, I don't want to know about that one- " Grant stopped. "And then, when thirty or so days is up, I guess you get bored, or something, and you go on a secret mission on the other side of the world for anywhere from five weeks to two years."

"It was just a coince-"

"I can count six girls off the top of my head." Grant said. "Tina. Eva. Courtney. Kim. Georgina from the Harrison team. Alexa from New York. That MI6 agent... Katie? Kaitlyn? Probably both."

"Her name was Kate." Zach interjected. But Grant wasn't finished.

"And now, Cammie Morgan. My girlfriend's best friend. Holy shit, man." Grant said. "I mean, I know you thought she was hot, but she's... Cammie."

"Yeah, and if you give me her address, I'll apologize to her-"

"First of all, it's not going to be as easy as 'sorry I ditched you for two years, let's make up'. She was extremely hurt. I have no idea why. Well, I kind of do. I mean, usually, you at least call. Once. And don't ditch them when they go on a Grade A mission. And don't let them get shot." Grant took a breath. "She's hurt, and her best friends are your best friends. So I think you'll need a lot more than an apology."

"Then what do I do?" Zach asked.

Grant shook his head, shrugging. "You owe her two years of her life, Zach. If you can give her that, whatever. But-"

"Yeah. I get it. Two years is a long time."

"Actually, I wish you luck. This-" he held up his broken arm. "-actually wasn't from falling down the stairs. She did this to me. And it was an invitation to a birthday party. Which she declined, by the way. I have no idea what she'll do to you."

"That's definitely a scary thought."

"Actually, speaking of Bex's birthday dinner, do you want to come? It's tomorrow at eight. As you know, Cammie declined, but we made a reservation for her. You can take her seat."

Zach yawned. "Okay. I'll be there."

* * *

**notes: sorry to make zach sound like such a manwhore. it makes the ending more dramatic. that was oddly sane of me to say.**

**well, i didn't hate it too bad, and hopefully neither would you. and yes. the characters are OOC. it's au.  
**


	2. reunions should be left to the civilians

Cammie winced. The music was deafening. She made her way over to the table where she could see the reddish blonde head of Liz, feeling extremely out of place. People moved in waves around her, drinking, laughing, dancing. She gripped her left arm, her nails making marks in her jacket.

"Hey, Cammie! I haven't seen you in forever," Liz chirped. Cammie pasted on a smile.

"Cammie!" Bex cried. "You came!"

"You kind of guilt tripped me into it." She pointed out. Bex rolled her eyes.

"Oh... Cammie," Grant said, looking surprised. His cast was hidden under a striped green shirt. "Excuse me. I have to get some more drinks." He said to Bex.

"Sure, sweetie. Anyways, Cam, there's Josh-" she pointed to the lanky brown-haired boy next to Macey. "You know Macey, Preston, Liz, Jonas, Courtney, Kim, this is Johnny." She gestured towards a tall brown-haired guy. "There's Tina. And that's Will."

The group chorused "Hey" and "Hi".

"Sit, sit," Macey said, patting the seat next to her.

"Hey, Mace." Cammie handed Bex her present and squeezed in between Tom and Macey.

"So, we were just talking about how Kim and Tina took out some people in-" Macey paused. "What was it?"

"Clown masks," Kim and Tina chimed together.

"It was like a Batman movie," Tina said, rolling her eyes.

"What about you?" Kim asked, looking at me. "I haven't talked to you in while, huh? You've been going on those blackout missions, right?"

Cammie toyed with her napkin. "Yeah. And it's pretty boring, actually. Lot's of old Russian guys. Young English scientists. And Asian dictators. That's it." The group laughed. "But it's easy and has good pay, so whatever."

"Oh yeah, didn't you get a new car?" Courtney asked. Cammie nodded. It actually wasn't because of the money. It was because her old Lexus reminded her of _him, _and she didn't want to think about _him._ "It's nice."

"Okay, I have refills!" Grant cried. He was holding a tray. "We're putting it on a tab. We have a couple beers, some wine..." He set the tray down. Cammie grabbed a martini and sipped it.

"What else have you been up to?" Liz asked curiously. "You must've been pretty busy. You've been silent for over a year and half, now."

Cammie took another sip. "Oh, yeah, kind of." Bex shot Cammie a look. "But, um, enough about me, I'm really boring. What about you? I heard you made it to top analyst! That's great!"

Liz launched into a tale of her breakthroughs and Cammie leaned back.

"Wow, you drank that pretty fast," Josh said, looking down at the empty glass.

"I'm... thirsty," she mumbled. Josh smirked. Smirked. Josh smirked. Smirk. Smirked. Smirking.

* * *

_"You smirk way too much to be healthy."_

_"But you find it alluring and mysterious, right, **Gallagher Girl**?"_

_"...Not really."_

_"**You lo**... You like it. Everybody does."

* * *

_

"As long as you can hold it in, I'm fine." Josh replied. He held up his glass. "Cheers." They clinked glasses. Bex smiled at Cammie knowingly.

* * *

The room was way too crowded for Zach's taste. People squished together, then spread apart, then pressed together, then came apart. The hairs on the back of his neck raised. He didn't like crowded places. The only thing they were good for was being invisible.

And even then, Zach had a hard time blending in. "Hey, cutie," a short blonde said, sending a glance his way. A tall redhead touched his arm and met his eyes. A brunette gazed at him and lowered her eyelids suggestively. Another blonde winked at him. Eventually, Zach took out his cell phone, so people wouldn't bother him. _Three missed calls. One new voicemail message._

"Dude, I have no idea where the hell you are, but Cammie is here and I don't know what you should do. Prepare yourself!"

Zach froze. Cammie. Was here. He scanned the area. She would very hard to miss, but-

He spotted Bex and Grant immediately. One seat over. A brown-haired guy, his head leaning in. Next seat. Light brown- almost blondish hair, completely straight. Also leaning in. Zach's world stopped.

There she was. Two years. Grant was right. She had changed. There was a drink her hand. The Cammie he knew never touched alcohol. Her hair was long and looked like she had just brushed it a few times before leaving. Old Cammie always liked to look presentable. And it was at that moment that both Grant and Cammie looked up. Her face paled. And she looked down just as fast. Then she was squeezing by Macey, Preston, Liz, Jonas, and Courtney, the guy trailing her. Well, that part of her hadn't changed...

Grant's eyes widened and he looked at Cammie, who was still just walking away. Zach walked forward. One foot in front of another. Left, right. Left, right.

"Hi, guys."

Kissing in a bathroom was not new to Cammie. It happened all the time at work with her and-

It was a quick and easy way to... do whatever. Bathrooms. The storage room. Janitor's closet. Pantry. The less lights, the better. Basic rules.

Kissing on the neck. Kissing on the mouth. Unbuttoning a shirt. Basic, basic, basic. Leaning against the sink. Back to the neck. Traveling further down. Unhooking a bra...

"Wait," Cammie breathed.

"What?" Josh asked.

"We're in a bathroom at a club at my best friend's birthday." Cammie said, stating the obvious.

Josh smiled. "Yeah, I see your point." She smiled back. They both exited, blending in immediately with the throbbing crowd.

"But... I mean, later, right?" Josh asked.

Cammie thought about it. Why not? It was pretty fun. Not to mention, the last person she wanted to see was probably sitting in her spot at the table. "Yes. Later."

She approached the table, and her stomach turned to stone. _Okay. This is way worse than I thought it would be. _The table hushed for a second, then Bex said loudly, "Wow, Zach is back? Can you believe it?" Pause.

Cammie forced a smile on. "No. Wow. And at no sign whatsoever. I mean, not even a call. Or an email." She looked at Zach. "Really _out of the blue._"

Zach got what she was getting at. "Nice to see you too." He said quietly.

"Um, so we ran out of seats, but you can pull up a couple chairs," Bex continued, in an effort to keep conversation going. "You know what? I'll go get them." She stood up.

"I'm coming with you," Grant called.

"And I'm going to get another cosmo," Tina said. "Kim, come with me."

"I need to use the restroom," Liz excused.

"I should come with," Macey agreed. "Preston, come on."

"Wait for me!" Jonas cried. The last two people didn't even bother to think up an excuse. Well, they did mumble something about menus, but it was barely heard.

And at this point, even Zach could feel how awkward this was. But, as usual, he tried to cover it up. "Wow, you really know how to clear a table, Gallagher Girl."

"You know him?" Josh asked, behind her.

Cammie brushed her hair out of her face. "Um, everyone knew him. I mean, like, two years ago."

"Yeah, Zach Goode," Zach greeted. Cammie cringed. This was definitely awkward.

"We were friends," Cammie clarified. "_Field_ partners... occasionally. Then I quit and went into blackout missions."

Zach smirked, looking at his drink. The story obviously amused him. _Breathe._ "And I went to Asia to do some work." Cammie gripped her arm again.

"Hm. Cool." Josh said, oblivious.

"Cool's one word for it," Cammie muttered.

"Uh, so are we going to sit?" Josh asked. Zach spread his arm wide, gesturing towards all the recently emptied seats.

"Go ahead."

Cammie sat in first, which placed her closer to Zach, so she stayed a good foot or two away from him. _Breathe._

"Oh yeah, you're that guy that I replaced," Josh realized. "Right?"

"Right," Zach said. "_Replaced._"

"Cammie!" Macey cried, coming back suddenly. "We, um, need you in the bathroom. We have... an emergency."

"What-" Both Zach and Josh started to say.

"It's a girl thing." Macey said hurried. She grabbed her friend and pulled her away. "Oh, my God, sorry for bailing on you. I think we all sort of panicked."

Cammie grabbed a drink off a passing tray and downed it. "_You_ panicked? Think about how I felt."

"Yeah, again, sorry," Macey apologized. "Wow. Could this get any weirder?"

"Not unless Santa comes and starts to striptease on the table," Cammie muttered. Macey smiled sympathetically.

"Well, at least old Cammie is coming back," Macey said, as if it were good. They reached the bathroom. "Liz! Open up!"

Cammie leaned against the wall. "Well, the other Cammie could fend for herself, at least. This one needs help from _Peacock._"

"Okay, I didn't choose that name."

"You _approved _of it."

"The other option was 'Emerald'," Macey snorted. "That's not even my birthstone. Liz. Do you have the information?"

"On why he chose the one day I decided to go out to come back?" Cammie asked.

"Yeah. And no, I don't. Cammie, what happened?" Liz asked.

"What? Well, Josh started talking about replacing him and it got all awkward-"

"No, I mean before. Two years ago." Pause.

Cammie thought about it. "A lot happened." Liz took out her laptop and began typing."Wow, you brought a laptop."

"We're chronicling the event. Start from the beginning."

* * *

_"You're sitting on my car," he said, stopping a few feet in front of it._

_She smiled and nodded. "Yeah."_

_"**Why** are sitting on my car?" He asked. She unfolded her legs and hopped off._

_"It's kind of embarrassing," she started. "I locked my keys in my office."_

_He smirked. "Use your keycard."_

_"Well, my office has an auto-lock, and when I went to go get a water, I forgot to bring my keycard. So that's in my office too."_

_He unlocked the BMW, but rested an arm on the roof of the car. "So you want a ride?"_

_She rolled her eyes. "No, I was just sitting on your car telling you a sob story because I want to walk twenty three miles to go home."_

_He smiled and opened his door. "Get in."

* * *

_

"Wow," Macey said. "That is amazing." Cammie sat down, feeling dizzy.

"Well, what else happened? You didn't become his fuck buddy by carpooling with him," Liz stated bluntly.

"Liz! You just- You just said the F word," Cammie said, surprised.

Macey snorted. "That's how long you've been out of it. Liz swears, Preston got a Rolex. Jonas races cars."

"That's... impressive."

"Continue," Liz ordered. "He said 'Get in', then what did you do?"

"Um, I opened the door and got inside, then I told him the directions to my apartment." Cammie said. "What?"

"That's all?" Liz asked. Cammie nodded. "No hidden messages? No?" Cammie shook her head. Liz typed something. "Okay, so now we're at your apartment. " Cammie sighed.

"This is weird. I don't really want to remember."

"Well, it's already different from other stories that we've collected about Zach," Liz said. Cammie stared.

"You've collected stories about Zach?" Liz nodded, as if there was nothing wrong with that.

"Ralph Lauren!" Macey blurted out.

Cammie and Liz both turned to Macey. "What?"

"You were in here with Josh. He wears Ralph Lauren. That's what it smells like."

"Cammie!" Liz cried.

"What?"

"You were in here with Josh?"

"Yeah-"

"Did you..."

Cammie shook her head. "No! Of course not. Is no one else amazed at Macey's smelling skills? She could tell it was Ralph Lauren. I didn't even know there was a perfume for guys called cologne until I was sixteen."

Macey waved it off. "Okay, so what happened after you got to your apartment?" Liz put her fingers on her keyboard, ready to type.

* * *

_"Shit."_

_"What?"_

_"My keys are in my office."_

_He smirked. "That's not good."_

_"You know what, can you drive me over to Macey's? It's near here. I'll just go to her place tonight."_

_He sighed. "You're lucky you're cute, otherwise I'd make you pay for gas."

* * *

_

"Wait, _what_?" Liz asked.

"Okay, I'm leaving," Cammie said. This was just too embarrassing to recover. She stood up and walked out and went back to the table, where thank _God_ there were more people.

"Hi," Zach and Josh both said.

"I have to go," Cammie said, ignoring them both. "Thanks for the drinks and stuff." She walked away, trying not to trip. Going out was just _such_ a bad idea.

* * *

Zach watched as Cammie stumbled halfway out the door before he stood up. "I better get going too. Jetlag," he said to no one in particular. It was obvious that his influence on people had gone down over the past twenty months. Yet, his reputation still preceded him. It was shame, really, how this world worked.

Still, he got up, grabbed his jacket, and left, feeling a wave of claustrophobia as he once again entered the bar part of the restaurant. "I knew you'd come back," a short blonde said, standing in his way. For a second, Zach tried to remember her, then he realized it was that staring girl from when he first came.

Zach stared down, biting back a comment about Oompa Loompas. Instead, he ignored her words and asked a question. "Did you see an extremely drunk girl with a tan jacket come by?"

"Yeah, probably," the blonde said. "But who cares?"

At that point, Zach couldn't wait. He sighed and stepped aside so he could go around the short blonde. He speed-walked outside, where he found Cammie leaning over some bushes. The picture of health. He stared for a second, trying to think of what to do. Finally, he just held her hair back.

"I think I just killed my liver," she mumbled, standing up and closing her eyes. She wobbled on her own.

"Okay, we should get you home," Zach told her. "Can you stand?" She collapsed, which pretty much answered his question. He exhaled. "Great."


	3. nostalgia? the new gallagher team

_"She lives in that building," Cammie said, pointing to a large brick residence._

_"You're joking."_

_"Um, no, I'm not."_

_"That's where I live."_

_Pause. "Oh. Wow." He pulled up in front of the building. They both climbed out and walked into the apartment complex. Cammie tried to not notice how the doorman looked at her. Sympathetic, almost. "Eighth floor."_

_"Right above mine." Zach informed her, pressing the two elevator buttons.  
_

_Cammie smiled. "You act like I want to know this information." _

_Zach shrugged. "What, you don't?" He raised an eyebrow._

_That's what started it all.A brief moment of silence, just looking. And then he kissed her. It wasn't even one of those slow climatic kisses. It was quick. And sloppy. They backed out of the elevator, still connected at the lips. They reached his door. He struggled to fit the key into the lock. The door flung open, then slammed shut. Privacy. It really began now- kisses on the neck, breasts, the stomach. He unbuttoned her shirt as she undid his tie._

_The pair reached his bedroom._

_"You-" Cammie breathed, as he tried to open the door with one hand backwards and still undress her. "Are really good at kissing."_

_Zach smiled. "And it's not even my specialty."

* * *

_

Cammie lay with her eyes closed for a good two minutes after she had woken up. Her head was throbbing with increasing amounts of pain, and she didn't really feel like moving. Not to mention, someone was talking _extremely_ loudly. Had she left the TV on?

Sitting up, eyes still closed, she tried to remember last night. Three names popped up. Bex. Josh. And, for some reason, Zach.

Cammie's stomach curled at that name. Pathetic. Even her hungover self hated him. It was really time to move on.

_But that's what Josh was for,_ a little voice said in her head. Something fell into place. She opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was a cup of coffee, thoughtfully placed on a table next to her bag. The next thing she saw was a really awesome flat-screen TV on the wall. It stared at her, it's fifty-two inch screen black. And then, it finally connected in her throbbing mind that she didn't own a fifty-two inch TV. She also didn't own a glass coffee table. Or a suede couch.

And that's when the feelings of gratitude towards whoever had been nice enough to put the coffee on the table shriveled up and died. Her hand shot out instinctively, knocking over the coffee. It made an extremely loud sound as it hit the floor, causing Cammie to wince. She sat up properly and put her head in her hands. How the hell did she end up here? She heard footsteps, but didn't move a muscle.

"Please tell me you're not who I think you are." Which was possibly the stupidest statement that had ever left her mouth. Because, why wouldn't it be? Unless someone else had arranged their furniture to be exactly like _his._ Yeah. Likely. "Okay, sorry, that was a stupid sentence. What time is it?"

_Amazing. I am acting cordial. Maybe it's because I can't see him. So if I could just invest in some sort of sleeping mask that could block him out, we could get along perfectly._

Her brain functions were not improving.

"Seven thirty."

She got off the couch, deliberately facing the opposite direction, and picked up her bag. "I, um, spilled some... well, all of the coffee. You know what, I'll just clean it up-"

"No, no, I got it," Zach said, grabbing some paper towels and walking over to the spill. He knelt down and mopped it up, his half-done tie hanging dangerously low to the coffee. He stood back up, stained paper towels in one hand. "Look, you don't have to be scared of me or anything."

Cammie shook her head. "I'm not scared."

"Then say something." _Say something? What the hell do you say in a situation like this?_

_"_Sorry for spilling coffee all over your floor." Zach sighed and walked over to the trash, tossing the paper towels in.

"Did I _do_ something to you?" _It must be so easy to be Zach. _

_"_Right now, I have an awful hangover, so it might not be the best time to have a heart to heart." Cammie snapped. "I have to go. Thanks for the... couch." Brain functions: still not improving. Reasons? Theoretically, alcohol, but probably Zach.

"Do you need me to drive you?"

_Not really._ "No, it's fine. I can walk." He gave her a look that basically said 'I don't believe you'.

"No, seriously, you were really wasted yesterday-"

"Thanks, Zach." _First time I said his name._

"-and I'm not sure you can walk back to your car safely."

"It's broad daylight, and-"

"It's not you that I'm worried about."

She spun around to face him. "What do you mean by that?" Zach paused.

"Nothing, I just, I mean, Grant said that you react quickly when you get annoyed in a very-"

"Grant told you? Right, and you believe everything that comes out of _his_ mouth."

"No, but right now you're kind of backing up his cause."

She sighed. "I'm going to work."

"I thought it was your day off."

"Well, I feel like killing someone right now, and if you don't move, it's going to be you," she threatened.

Zach sighed, backing away and holding his hands up. "You know what, go. I'm going to go get a jacket. The front door's unlocked." She watched him walk away, trying to measure her breathing. Then, she turned on her heel and walked out. On her way, she spotted something extremely bright. It caught her attention for a moment, and then she realized what it was. It was a phone, sitting on it's charger. And it was ringing, except it was on silent. Cammie squinted, trying to make out the white lettering, and the picture behind it. It was some gorgeous Asian girl, smiling brightly.

Cammie looked behind her, and as quickly as possible, took the phone and dropped it into her bag.

* * *

Zach Goode rinsed his face with cold water, preparing for a shave, his mind whirling. Grant had, for once, been right. She had gone completely mental. Which is strange, because the rest of the people who he had been with hadn't done anything. Tina, Courtney, Kim, they were all still friends with him. But even then, Cammie was different. For instance, she didn't brag about that whole relationship thing. And she openly flirted with other guys. It was one of those mutual things. Like the golden rule that you learned about in second grade, but different.

"Shit," Zach swore out loud, as he saw a thin trail of blood running down his neck. Thinking too deeply, shaving too deeply. He grabbed a towel and dabbed at it, staining his towel in the process, but he didn't care. It wasn't like he planned for anyone to come over. Grant's little speech had been a bit of an eye opener.

He wasn't admitting to being a player, though. That just made him sound sleazy. And he wasn't. He just... liked girls.

_Right. That wasn't sleazy at all._

Either way, he was going end it. The whole sleeping with girls for a couple weeks for fun. Which it was, sure, but his best friend was getting married, and his other best friend had been dating his girlfriend since sophomore year of high school. It was time to actually start dating someone.

Dating. Such a weird word.

His cut stopped bleeding, and Zach tossed his towel into the hamper. He walked back into the living room/kitchen/dining room area, and saw that she had left.

_It's not like you said you wanted her to stay._

Yet, he had. She was kind of fun to be around. Even before the thing they had, he could see that people were naturally attracted to her because she was just that type of person. Happy and funny. People were attracted to him for **much** different reasons.

* * *

_"It's like, a rite of passage, sleeping with him," Tina said loudly to her friends. Zach stopped outside of the office door. "Becoming a woman... Having sex with Zach Goode."_

_"Tina, you're so bad," Cammie's voice laughed. "I'm pretty sure people can hear us outside."_

_"Forget it, darling, let the whole world know."_

_Then, Kim's voice entered. "Actually, I agree with Tina."_

_"Whoa, that's a first," Bex's strong accent came through. "Someone agreeing with Tina?"_

_"Haha, Bex," Tina said. "Wait, let's see. Courtney's a woman. So's Kim. And Eva. Bex, you've been with Grant forever, and that's basically the same..."_

_"What about Macey?"_

_"Actually, um..."_

_"Macey?"_

_"It was high school!"_

_"Whatever." Pause. "So, the only one left is Cammie. Oh, Cammie. Don't worry. Your time will come."_

_"Uh, thanks, Tina."

* * *

_

"Overall, another successful mission," the Director on the screen said, smiling. "Although, it took a while, but it was quality work and we applaud you."

"Thanks."

"But, we'd like for you to remain stationary for at least a year this time. The hassle was too much, getting new agents and all, and we think you should settle down," the Director continued.

Zach looked up. "Um, sure. Okay."

"And this is actually great timing, because Cameron Morgan just signed back on to the Gallagher team, too," the Director said, smiling again. "You two had great results as partners two years ago. Top of the team. Beat out Rebecca and Grant." Zach swallowed, but stayed silent. "Well, that's all we have for today. Why don't you go and greet your teammates?"

Cammie walked up behind the brown-haired boy and covered his eyes. "Three seconds. Who am I?"

Josh leaned back in his chair. "Not even a disguised voice?" Cammie smiled and took her hands away.

"I've been out of the field for two years, give me credit."

"Well, I suppose an undisguised voice is the better alternative to getting shot."

"See? Bright side to everything." Cammie said confidently. "Anyways. I have good news. Or bad news, it really depends on how you look at it."

"Okay," Josh said.

"I'm transferring back here," she told him happily. "To the team, to the field. Well, to you, it's not really _back-_"

"That's great!"

Bex and Macey appeared in the doorway. "What's this I hear about returning to the team?" They asked together. Cammie looked up. "That's wonderful, darling!" Macey trilled, hugging Cammie.

"Yeah, everyone needs a role model here. They all suck at blending in." Bex informed Cammie. Then she looked at Josh. "I was totally kidding." Then she looked back at Cammie, her facial expression saying 'I really wasn't'. Cammie laughed, remembering why she wanted to be on the team in the first place. All her friends were here. "Well, come on, we have to show you around."

"It's only been two years. I don't think much could've changed around here."

"They make you pay for snack foods now. You weren't expecting that, were you? But don't worry, I just make Grant pay for it."

And just as Bex and Macey pulled Cammie out of Josh's office and into the kitchen, Zach came through the front door. His old office was the first one of the right. He stopped outside the door, and saw the name plate on the door. Of course. It just had to be-

"Zach?" An extremely high pitched voice asked. Zach turned around and came face to face with amber-eyed Tina. "You're signing back onto the team?" He held his papers up and nodded. He suddenly remembered why he ended it with Tina. Her voice? The most annoying sound on earth. Her eyes widened. "What happened to your neck?"

"Um, cut myself shaving," he told her truthfully, looking for an escape of any sort. He spotted Grant walking down the hall.

"Oh, you're so funny, gosh," Tina giggled. "Well, we all missed you."

"You saw me yesterday."

"Yeah, but that didn't count," she said. "I'm going to go for coffee with Kim and Courtney, maybe we can all catch up?"

"Yeah, maybe," Zach assured her. Then immediately, he turned and waved his hand at his incoming best friend. "Hey! Grant!"

Tina smiled. "Well, you two just have your boy talk. Ta-ta."

Grant walked up to Zach, then looked at Tina's retreating figure. "Dude, you do realize you've had sex with her, like, twenty-eight times."

"Don't remind me."

"And boy talk? What the hell?"

"Just ignore it. Anyways, the Director said I could have my old office back, except _Josh_ is in it."

"Was that a hint of jealousy in your voice? I didn't even know you were capable of that. Or, any emotion. Besides lust. And... brooding."

"Thanks, man."

"I'm sorry. I should be helpful, huh. Okay, well, there's one down the hall..."

* * *

"You need coffee." Bex said sympathetically.

Cammie put her head in her hands and groaned. "Oh, don't remind me."

"What? Something happen last night?" Bex asked, pushing the start button on the coffee machine. "You did make it home safely, right?"

"Not exactly _my_ home, but yeah, I did make it there safely," Cammie mumbled, her voice muffled.

Bex and Macey slid into chairs immediately. "What happened? Who took you home?" Cammie looked at her two best friends through her fingers.

"Don't freak out."

"We won't."

"Actually, yeah, you probably will."

"Great, now you need to tell us," Macey ordered.

"Zzm."

"What?"

"Zimm."

Macey sighed. "Cammie, put your hands down. Don't you dare mumble." Cammie breathed in, but the door opened.

"Um, Bex, I need to talk to you," Grant's voice said. "Whoa. Cammie. You're here. Again. I swear, the timing in this place."

"Grant, go away," Bex said, throwing a paper cup at him. He caught it one hand.

"No. This is kind of urgent. Like, even more urgent than it was before because of the circumstances..."

"I think a long word just came out of Grant's mouth," Macey said, surprised.

"Thanks, McHenry. Bex. I need to talk to you."

"Cammie was about to tell me something important!"

"Well, this is kind of more important."

"Just tell me here."

"I would, but I fear for my life, so can I tell you alone?"

And then Bex muttered something about how he _better_ be fearing for his life if this wasn't important and walked out.

"So who was it?" Macey asked. Cammie pressed her lips together. "Zach?"

Cammie flinched, and opened her mouth to ask if Macey could read minds or something. But Macey was looking beyond Cammie. Cammie twisted around. And oh, of course there he stood. He offered half a smile, which she quickly returned before grabbing her coffee and leaving the room abruptly. Outside, she brushed by Bex and Grant, who were engaged in a one-sided battle of wits. She walked quickly down the hall, looking down. Suddenly, she ran into something, spilling her coffee again.

"Oh! I'm sorry," Cammie apologized, recognizing the crisp suit, now stained brown. The Director stood up. "I am so, so sorry."

The Director smiled. "It's alright, Agent Morgan. I still owe you one for joining the team."

"Thank you, sir," Cammie said. "If I may ask, why are you here?"

"Oh, well, I was going to take the team out for lunch, but I suppose you can just go without me," he said. looking down at his dripping shirt. "Don't worry. It'll just be like old times, right? You don't need your boss impending on you."

Cammie smiled. "Whatever you say, sir."

"We better get a janitor in here." The Director ordered. "You continue where you're going, Agent Morgan."

"Thank you, sir." Sighing, she continued walking down the hall, stopping outside of Josh's office. After thinking about her choices for about two seconds, she walked in.

* * *

Bex walked up to Zach and slapped him. Hard. "Ow," Zach said, putting a hand up to his face.

"What the bloody hell is wrong with you?"

"Um, I-"

"Do you have any _bloody_ idea how much Cammie has _been through?_" Zach prepared himself for another slap.

"The Director-"

"I don't _give_ a shit if the Director _made_ you. How old are you, _six?_"

"So I should switch teams?"

"What you _should _do is go back to Siberia-"

"Korea."

"-and get blown up by a nuclear war missile." Bex snapped. She paused. "Okay, that was a bit over the top."

"You say this after you slap me."

Bex stared for a moment, then randomly asked, "What happened to your neck?"

"Cut myself shaving." Zach told her truthfully. Bex gave him a quizzical look. Then Grant came back.

"Done beating up my best friend?"

"Yeah." Bex muttered.

Another person entered the room, crowding the kitchen even more. "Agent Goode, fancy seeing you here," the Director greeted, shaking hands with him and Grant. "Agent Newman, Agent Baxter."

Bex put on a smile. "Hello, Director."

The Director smiled back. "Well, I was going to take you all out to lunch, but I got coffee spilled on me." He gestured to the brown stain. "But the reservation still stands, and it's paid for by the company."

"Cool," Grant said. Bex stepped on his foot. "I mean, cool, sir."

"It'd be just like the old team, yes?" The Director asked. The three agents nodded. "Tell Agent McHenry and your analysts, too. I better go change my shirt."

"Good bye, sir," Bex said.

"Okay, Bex, we're not in the military," Grant told his fiancee. "You don't need to say sir in every single sentence."

"It's just respect," Bex replied evenly. The three started to walk down the hall. "Where's Macey, anyways?" They looked at Zach.

"Um, she was using her phone to check something, then she ran off screaming something about leggy blonds," Zach informed the couple. They stared back, bewildered. Then, they heard a very familiar scream echo through the hall.

"Argh! Preston, I swear to God, if I see _one _more tabloid about you having some sort of secret lunch with some blond with too much lipstick I am going to _murder_ you!" Macey shouted into a phone.

"See, I wasn't lying." Zach said.

"There's a first," Bex quipped. "Macey? Are you okay?" Macey slammed her phone against the wall. It fell in three big pieces to the floor, which Macey ignored.

"No, I'm not okay, because the fucking _People_ magazine keep thinking that Preston is some womanizer who meets too many Swedish models in Starbucks and can his girlfriend Macey McHenry handle it? Does that even make sense?" Macey cried. "I should've made him keep his damn Spiderman watch."

"Whoa, calm down," Bex said. "Do you want to join us for lunch?"

"Do I want to go out for lunch? No, not really. I kind of want to indulge in whole fat ice cream and throw darts at a portrait of Preston's head." She shoved past Zach, who was taken by surprise and stumbled backwards. He grabbed the first thing for support, which turned out to be a doorknob. It twisted, unlocked, flinging the door open. After Zach righted himself, he realized he had invaded Josh's office. Where, wow, Cammie was too. And both were looking awfully flustered.

"Cammie, there you are," Bex covered quickly. "The Director made a reservation for the old team, and since you were part of the old team..."

Grant came up behind Zach. "See, that's how everyone else feels when their printer runs out of paper and they have get more from the storage closet." Grant told him. Zach shot him a look. "Too soon? Sorry. I've had a two year build up of jokes."

"We should go now," Bex said. "I'm driving."

"You are not driving," Grant countered. "I've seen you try and back out of the driveway. No."

"Killjoy."

* * *

"Cammie, come with me," Bex said, as soon as they walked into the fancy restaurant. She pulled Cammie into the bathroom. "Cam, you have to tell him."

"Tell who what?" Cammie asked, looking in the mirror to meet her friend's eyes. Bex sighed.

"Tell Zach about the... the thing."

Cammie stared. "Um, no. No, no, no. That is a horrible idea."

"Cam, he's already wondering why you're acting so weird."

"Easy. Becuase he _left-"_

"He left other people too, and look-" Bex dragged Cammie back out so they could see the table. "They're all conversing humanely with him." Cammie walked back inside the bathroom.

"I'm not telling him."

"Well, you're already going to be working with him, and then there's going to be this huge elephant in the room that he can't see but he totally feels it." Bex said.

"First of all, you're starting to sound like Macey. Second of all, if I tell him, he'll just run away again," Cammie told Bex. "And really, I mean, as big of a jackass he is, he is really good at what he does, and this team has been failing since he left."

"Since both of you left," Bex corrected. The bathroom door opened, but Cammie ignored it.

"I'm not doing it."

"Doing what?" Tina trilled. Cammie flinched. Tina had one of the most annoying voices in the world.

Cammie narrowed her eyes. "Ordering beef. Trying to cut down the red meat."

Tina raised an eyebrow. "Really? But Cammie, you're already so skinny. I mean, and I mean this in the least scandalous way possible, but you've lost a _ton_ of weight since the last time I saw you."

"Yesterday?"

"I meant two years ago."

"Right."

Bex cut in. "Yeah, there's a reason for that-"

"Shut up, Bex." Cammie ordered. She looked her best friend in the eye. "I'm not ordering the beef." She walked out of the bathroom.

Bex sighed and rolled her eyes, following her out. "But, Cam! You have to! Otherwise the... chef will be... confused and irritated. And possibly try to get in your pants again." Bex struggled, trying to keep up with the code.

"Why would he do that? I'm not the shiny new toy anymore."

"Because he thinks he's done nothing wrong." Bex told her. Cammie closed her eyes for one second.

"Fine." She wasn't going to, really.

But Bex didn't need to know that.

"Thank you," Bex said, pulling her friend into a hug. "After this, the awkward part will be over, and then maybe you can act normal again."

"Hey!"

Zach was surprised when Cammie slid into the seat next to him. She smiled quickly and picked up the menu, which was trying hard to be authentically Italian but failed. (Zach should know. He spent a two months there once. And slept with an Italian girl. And then took down an Italian mobster.)

She didn't say anything, but Zach knew it was only a matter time. Cammie was just that kind of cut-to-the-chase girl. Beign suggestive? Not really. Hinting at something? Not her. Instead, she stared at the menu, either trying to figure out how to pronounce a dish (not likely) or... well, Zach couldn't really think of another reason that didn't make him sound self centered and cocky.

Bex looked pointedly over to her best friend. "Cammie, I think you should order the beef." She said, monotone. Cammie glared and looked at the menu for a few more seconds, before setting it down and looking up. "I need to tell you something."

_Tell him the truth._

**Don't.**

_Don't be a wimp._

**Don't be a damsel in distress.**

_It's not that bad._

**Sweetie, he'll just run back to Korea.**

_Tell him!_

**You can always tell him later. Just lie. For now. It's what you do, Cammie.**

Zach looked at her expectantly.

"Um, so I was talking to Josh, and he was willing to give up his office," Cammie lied. "Because it was your old one. You know?"

**Good girl.**

Zach looked a bit confused at the news. "Oh. Okay. That was... nice of him."

_I can't believe you chickened out._

**Look. Even Bex doesn't suspect a thing.**

_You've lied to your best friend._

The two sides of her mind finally ceased their battle. Cammie squirmed. On one hand, telling the truth would probably benefit later on.

But then again. How were you supposed to tell the guy who had left you when you had a mission that you were once pregnant with his child?

And that it died, because he hadn't been there to protect it?

* * *

Review Questions: A.) Would you prefer a dramatic, Jack-Rose type ending (without the deadness. haha.), or a quick action-paced ending (like Jason Bourne.)? and B.) Is eighty reviews too ambitious? Let's try seventy. Or seventy five? Somewhere there. :)

**ending quote**

**dan**: i want to explore the wonderful world of chuck bass.  
**chuck:** are you gay?

haha. it made me laugh. Um, and check out gallagheracademy(.)ning(.)com, because if it weren't for the wonderful people there, this story wouldn't have spawned. haha. funny word. also, COOL FEEDBACK FOR STICKING TO THE COVER. haha. i love you guys. one last thing. you know when a review is all 'lol, haha, love it, omg, upd8 soon", i don't really know how to respond to that except "oh. cool. thanks." and it feels kinda impersonal. i try not to do that when i review anymore, so can you guys do that too? :P


	4. 1 in 4 women misread a pregnancy test

_"She's lost a lot of blood. Low heart rate." someone called. Cammie tried to move, but she was held down by something. "But otherwise, healthy. Besides getting shot." Mumblings.  
_

_"Miss? What's your name?" A male nurse asked._

_"Classified." Cammie mumbled._

_"Miss, we need your name. You've been shot."_

_"Yes, I know that, thanks," Cammie snapped. She tried to get up again, which pretty much killed her lower stomach._

_"Whoa, okay, you're restrained, don't try to get up." The male nurse continued._

_"Why am I restrained?"_

_"So you don't try to get up."_

_Cammie raised an eyebrow, trying to ignore the pain. "Who **are** you?"_

_The male nurse looked taken aback, then acted like he hadn't heard the question. "Is it alright if we search your bag?"_

_"Great, now you're a fucking detective, too? No."_

_"We need to know if you're on any medication."_

_"First rule of snooping? **Don't** tell the person you're gonna do it. Jesus Christ."_

_"Are you on any medication?"_

_"Um, I took some ibuprofen yesterday for a headache." Cammie said. "I don't I'm the one who needs medication, though, sir. Your acne is freaking me out." The male nurse seemed to be getting pretty annoyed, turning to his coworker._

_"Ibuprofen," he said. The coworker nodded. The nurse fumbled around with something behind Cammie, then came back into sight._

_"Okay, that's a really big needle."_

_"Count backwards from ten."_

_"I don't trust you with that. How old are you?"_

_"I'm seventeen,and I'm going to be entering my freshman year at Princeton in the fall. Ten, nine, eight-"  
_

_"Seventeen? No- what the hell? Hey, get that away from me-"_

_

* * *

_Someone was knocking on her door, snapping Cammie out of her trance. For the past hour, she had been thinking, reliving what had happened two years ago. Pause, play, rewind.

Disgruntled, she rolled off her bed. "Evan! I don't want to play strip poker with you and your friends, no matter how long it's been since they've been out of jail-" Cammie called, opening the door, expecting her perverted neighbor.

"Strip poker?" Zach asked.

"You're not the disgusting freak I was expecting." She deadpanned, walking back inside and letting the door slam behind her. But Zach slipped through before it closed and stood in her kitchen area.

"You have something of mine." Zach told her. She stared at him. "It's about the size of my hand, it has a touchscreen, it can call people..." Cammie nodded and went to her bag and pulled it out.

"This?"

"That's the one." She held it out, and he walked over. She placed it in his hand, and almost instantly, it rang. It was the Asian girl. By now, it had rung enough times in Cammie's possession that she now knew her name was Helen Kim, and she had a lot of worldwide minutes. But that wasn't the only one. There was also Lin, who had no last name, who texted him constantly. And Leslie White, who called, texted, and emailed him. Emily Chang (who also seemed to have a lot of worldwide minutes) e-mailed him almost every hour. And it didn't even stop there. Lisa Ko. Jenny Park. Amy Dai.

"Oh yeah. You have fifty-four missed calls from a Caller ID 'Helen Kim'. Along with four new voicemails, fifty-eight texts..."

"Okay, I get it."

"Ten e-mails. God, what did you do to that poor girl?" Cammie finished. She looked up at his six foot stature. For forty-six seconds exactly, they stared at each other.

Zach finally spoke. "Moving offices?" Cammie stepped back, confused.

"What?"

"Moving offices. That wasn't what you wanted to tell me." Cammie looked down. His phone started to ring again, but he turned it down. Another thirty-seven seconds passed. "Do you want to tell me now?" Cammie looked up again.

"You should probably take that. She's called you the most. Out of all of them." Two more seconds. Zach nodded.

"Yeah. I probably should. Thanks." He answered and turned, walking away. "Hello? Oh, hi, Helen. Sorry, my phone... ran out of battery..."

* * *

_"Ma'am, we have a few questions." Cammie blinked her eyes open. She stared into the face of an very fit, very young cop. Probably another intern. "You were in possession of three shotguns and a knife. Now, the knife isn't against the law, but we searched your bag and we found no license to bear arms."_

_Cammie shot up. "You searched my bag?" The cop nodded. Cammie leaned back. Shit. Even if Liz had disguised all of Cammie's gadgets cleverly, there was always that chance... "And?"_

_"We found nothing. The shotguns were with you." Cammie breathed out. She nodded. "So we need you to answer a few questions." Cammie stared at the cop. _

_"I'm not saying anything until my lawyer comes." She didn't really have a lawyer, but Bex in a business suit would do. The cop nodded, but sighed. Then left. Finally._

_"Miss Morgan?" _

_Cammie sat up again, annoyed. Did these people know no boundaries? A nurse entered, holding a clipboard. Her expression was remorseful, but plastic.__ "What?"_

_"We just wanted to say that with our deepest regrets, your child had to be removed from your body and died."_

_Cammie frowned. "Sorry-" she squinted at the nametag. "Teresa. But, um, I wasn't pregnant. I think you have the wrong room." Teresa checked her clipboard._

_"No, no, we were removing the bullets and adding stitches when we found a three month fetus. It was removed because the force of the bullet pierced-"_

_"I wasn't pregnant." Cammie told her. Teresa licked her lips nervously._

_"Have you been sexually active in the past four months?"_

_Cammie flinched. "Um, a bit, yeah."_

_"And were you on birth control?"_

_"Yes, of course."_

_"Well, some cases show that birth control can have the opposite effect-"_

_"Well, that just defeats the purpose of birth control, doesn't it?" Cammie snapped._

_"It's a very small percentage." Teresa said. "Did you go through your cycle?"_

_"Yeah, I guess." Cammie tried to think back.  
_

_"You don't mark your calendar or anything?"_

_Cammie shifted. "Um, no. I just, I mean, I don't notice things like that. There are more important things in life than making sure you get your period." Like nuclear war weapons. Or evil foreign people who wanted to blow up everything. Cammie lay back. Shock finally settled in. "I was pregnant?"_

_"Two or three months, we estimate."_

_"But, but, wouldn't I feel something? Like morning sickness. Or be really moody?" _

_"It always varies. Some women feel all of those. Some women feel none." Cammie breathed in and out evenly. She wasn't going to freak out- at least, not in public. She pressed her lips together._

_"Wouldn't I be getting... bigger?" Cammie asked. This couldn't be true._

_"Well, you don't notice a dramatic change until you finish your first trimester, usually."_

_"I would still notice something."_

_"Yeah, but you could pass it off as natural weight gain."_

_It had a lot of explanations. A lot of buts. Varying results._

_"Would you like to call someone?" Teresa asked._

_"Yeah. Yeah, I would."

* * *

_

_Cammie stared at her phone. "Just call him."_

_"No. I shouldn't."_

_"Cammie, this is huge." Bex said, sitting at the end of her hospital bed, dressed as a lawyer. "You were pregnant."_

_"Yes, I understand that, but I'm not anymore, so it really-" Bex snatched the phone from Cammie. "Hey! Give my phone back-"_

_"Is he under something special? Honeybear? Sweetiepie?"_

_"Uh, he's under 'Zach'." Bex played with a few buttons, then put the phone to her ear._

_"Do you want me to kill him slowly or quickly?" Bex asked._

_"No. No death threats. No death thoughts. No thoughts about death threats." _

_Bex sighed. "Fine, you talk to him," and she put the phone in between Cammie's ear and shoulder._

_"Zach. You know what to do."_

_Cammie didn't speak for a second. She wasn't surprised it went to voicemail. "Uh, um, so this__ is an attempt to guilt trip you. I got shot. And** fuck**, it hurts. I mean, not now, but it did then." Bex made a 'carry on' motion, but Cammie hung up._

_"Can you just get me out of here?" Cammie asked weakly._

_"Cammie, you're acting like a high schooler."_

_"I'm not."_

_"Yes, you are. You're twenty years old. You can tell him."_

_"Bex, I am not going to do that," Cammie said slowly, so her friend could understand. "It's gone anyways, it's fine."_

_"If it's fine, why did you call me?" Bex asked.  
_

_"So you could get me out of the hospital!"_

_Bex stood up, her hands up in a surrender gesture. "Okay. I'm getting you out."

* * *

_

_"Are you sure?" The Director asked. Cammie closed her eyes and sighed._

_"Yes, I'm sure."_

_"Resigning? We already lost one good team member," the Director said. Cammie shrugged._

_"I'm sorry, but I just don't feel like working in the field anymore."_

_"This wouldn't have anything to do with Agent Goode, would it?" Cammie shook her head. "His reputation precedes him."_

_"Trust me, I know. But no, it's not him. I just... I want to try those new missions. Blackouts? And a spy only lives to be about thirty on average, so I'm already half dead." Cammie pointed out, knowing she sounded petty and defensive._

_"Yes, but it's all very sudden, Morgan."_

_"Well, I've actually been planning it for a long time, just wanted to wait for my partner to leave so we could make a clean cut. And shouldn't I be taking time out of the field anyways? I mean, with my... wound." Cammie trailed off._

_"Yes, I would reccomend taking a break, but quitting the team? That's basically permanent. If you wanted to join again, I don't know if I could let you in."_

_Cammie nodded. "I understand that, sir, but it's fine." The Director rubbed his eyes, as if he were extremely stressed out._

_"I suppose I can't go against your wishes," he sighed. He stamped her papers._

_"Thank you, sir." He handed them back to her and she looked at them. Verified._

_"Good bye, Chameleon."_

_

* * *

_

things i need to say/**review questions:  
-zach has a big bad secret too. guess to care what?**  
-gallagheracademy(.)ning(.)com

**ending quote:**  
lois: i just don't think that chris should be wanting to have sex with his teacher!  
peter: whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa... whoa. whoa. lois, this is _not_ my batman cup.


	5. one way to do it

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: (AS OF JUNE 16.)**

hi. i'm a shit brain. i've misplaced this chapter. my good friend tunarh, though, she's currently helping me rewrite it (translating from kiwinese:_ she's_ writing it because she's not a shit brain) so it should be up sometime soon.

sorry for the disappointment and depression i may have just caused you. well, maybe not, because i'm not that egotistical about my writing. i might have made you slightly annoyed, but that's probably all. however, i really am sorry for being a shitwit.

-kiwiosity.**  
**


	6. what was that about reunions?

**kiwi:** how could you marry helen? that was, quote, very chuck bass of you, unquote.  
**zach:** who's chuck bass?  
**kiwi: **i'm sorry, i can no longer be obsessed with you. -cries- were you at least, quote, drunk, unquote?  
**zach: **yeah, a bit.  
**kiwi:** wait, so you'll marry people when you're drunk? -searches house for alcohol-

that was my conversation with zach. =]

so the last chapter was supposed to be chapter five... thanks** tunarh,** for pointing out the mistake. =]

**

* * *

**

**just so you know**

**SIX: WHAT WAS THAT ABOUT REUNIONS?  
**

"Hi!" Cammie said cheerfully. Zach cringed. Helen gave a distasteful look towards Cammie, who didn't notice. If she did, she didn't really show it. "I'm Cammie. You must be Helen. Wow, I've heard a lot about you." Zach couldn't even tell if Cammie was trying to make the moment more tense on purpose or not. She had been acting weird since the bar. "Well, not really, but-" her phone started to ring. "Sorry. Gotta take this. Hey Liz."

Helen raised an eyebrow towards Zach. "Why are you here?" Zach asked quietly. Helen sighed and took some papers out of her bag.

"Papers?"

Zach closed his eyes and exhaled slowly. "You couldn't mail them?" He snapped.

"What, not happy to see me?" She replied sarcastically. Something that he had once found hot. "You need a witness present." She smoothed down her skirt.

"I have friends."

"A witness who was also at the wedding." Helen told him.

"_I _was barely at the wedding." He muttered, taking the papers. It was all in Korean, which wasn't exactly his strong suit, but he got the main part of it.

"And since it takes you three months to do anything, I bought an apartment in this building," Helen told him, smiling. And Zach finally got her intentions.

"You're not seducing me back into it," he told her bluntly.

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, that's what you told me the first time. And the second. And the third..." Zach gave her a look. She shrugged and reshouldered her bag. "I'll be back tomorrow."

--

"Cammie!" Liz cried. "I think you're on a placebo."

"What?" Cammie asked. She walked into Zach's bedroom, leaving Helen and Zach to do whatever.

"Placebo. You would have elevated moods and hormone level." Liz said.

Cammie looked around the bedroom. She felt like snooping. "Oh. Speak English?"

Liz sighed over the phone. "Macey! Tell Cammie she's on a placebo."

There was a bunch of static as the phone was passed to someone. Macey's voice came through the line. "Cam, you're on a placebo."

"No," Cammie said. "I was telling the truth all afternoon."

"Psychological, duh," Macey sighed. "Wait, what are the symptoms, Liz? Yeah. Yeah. Okay." Cammie opened a drawer. Extra cell phone charger, spare set of keys, and two USB sticks. "Okay, Cammie, are you like, really happy right now?"

"No more than usual."

Macey blew a sigh over the phone. "Liz, how do we tell if she's happy? Hey! Grant! Tell a joke to Cammie!" There was more static, then another voice.

"What? Tell a joke- hey, are you saying that my jokes aren't funny?" Cammie opened the next drawer. Books. Wow. "Yeah, Macey, death threats stopped working on me- okay! Okay!" Cammie moved over to the closet. Grant sighed. "Okay, Cammie. What's the difference between a pregnant lady and a lightbulb?" There was some more static as someone probably beat Grant up.

"Jeez? Seriously? Out of all the bad jokes? God, Grant," Macey screeched. And then, a faint call of, _You can unscrew a lightbulb!_ Cammie giggled. Haha. There was a jacket and a couple shirts, but not much else. She looked at the lone jacket, then promptly looked through it's pockets. M&M's. An old receipt. Oh, a condom. Textured. Cammie laughed again. "She's laughing at it. Yeah, she's on the placebo. Oh, the other symptom? What? No, I'm not asking her that. God."

"Asking me what?" Cammie asked, moving out of the closet and to the computer. Zach had absolutely no personality in his room. Even his bed was neatly made.

"Okay. Fine. But you owe me like, three coffees." Macey said. "Okay. Is your hormone level higher?"

"What?" Cammie asked, not really paying attention. Zach's password. He probably hadn't changed it since he had only been back a couple days. What was it two years ago?

"Are you like, really horny right now?" Macey asked.

Cammie laughed. "Okay, I'll tell you if you can get Liz to tell me Zach's password." Silence. "Hello?"

"Are you at Zach's?" Macey cried. "Omigod. She's at Zach's."

"Cammie, you have to come to the lab," Liz's voice came through.

"Right. After you tell me Zach's password. C'mon. Just real quick." She could imagine Liz roll her eyes.

"Fine. Um, capital _C_, lowercase _m_, plus sign, three, asterisk, capital _H_, lowercase _p_, nine, percent sign." Liz rattled off. "I think." Cammie typed it in.

"You think right." Cammie muttered, waiting for the computer to sign in. Finally, it did. And the computer definitely had personality. There was a picture of a family set as the wallpaper. Aw. How cute. She clicked open Firefox and browsed recent history. General stuff. Google. His phone's website. Customer help for a TV. Amazon. Boring. She clicked out and looked for his files.

"Are you done snooping yet?" Liz asked. "You know, I can just download them for you from here."

Cammie blinked. Oh. "Okay. Do that."

Liz sighed. "I shouldn't have said that. Now can you come here? We actually know how to stop the effects of the placebo."

"Okay, I'm coming," Cammie said, smiling. She shut the computer down and walked out, hanging up. Zach was at his kitchen table, looking at some papers. "Hey. I have to go. Where's Helen?" Zach jerked his head up.

"Um, she left. She just needed to bring me some debriefing papers. Wait, before you go, we need to talk," he said, standing up.

Cammie shook her head. "Liz said I have to meet her at her lab. We'll talk later."

Zach sighed. "I don't know, Cammie, I mean, what you told me was really big," Zach said. "You were pregnant."

Cammie rolled her eyes. "Yeah, but I'm not anymore. It's all cool." She started walking towards the door. "We can talk later, but there's not a lot to talk about." Zach stared at her. "I have to go." She told him again.

-

"Cammie!" Cammie rolled off her bed. Maybe she should just give people a key so that they would stop waking her up in the middle of the night. "It's noon, Cammie. Wake up." Argh. She knew that voice. Macey.

"Macey, go away!" She yelled. Ow. Bad idea. Her head throbbed. Hungover. Again. Once the effects of the placebo had worn off with Liz's shot thing, the effects of alcohol had taken toll.

"Cammie, we're going shop-"

"Oh, God no," Cammie muttered. She walked outside of her bedroom and opened the door. "No. Not going shopping."

Macey rolled her eyes. "_Food_ shopping. You eat like a college student and have enough alcohol in your cupboards to make Ireland look like rehab. Come on. Get dressed."

"But Costco is like, thirty minutes away," Cammie whined. Macey snorted.

"We're not going to Costco. We're going to Jane's." Jane's was the organic foods store that was all about health and being fit. They sold organic everything. Vitamins, shoes, fruits. And it was pricey. Plus, everything was sold in mini sizes. It was Cammie's worst nightmare.

Macey pushed Cammie into her room and looked through Cammie's drawers, pulling things out and throwing them on the bed. "C'mon. Get ready. Brush your teeth. Brush your hair."

"I don't have the money for Jane's," Cammie said.

Macey rolled her eyes. "Cammie, you drive a Porsche."

"Paid for by the company."

"You make three grand for every guy you shoot. Or at least used to."

"Goes towards my rent."

"Yeah, if you only killed a guy a month. But you didn't. Technically, you're in good financial shape."

"This is coming from the girl who's fiancé has multiple drivers. Why would you need more than one?" Cammie asked, tying her hair up and putting toothpaste on her tooth brush.

Macey shrugged. "One for the Mercedes, one for the limo, one for the BMW, one for the-"

"I don't want to hear it." Cammie said. She brushed her teeth while Macey threw more clothes on the bed.

"Sorry." Cammie walked back out and looked at the clothes on the bed.

"Jeez, Macey. I haven't worn most of these clothes in years."

"_Two_ years, to be exact," Macey said, smirking. Cammie rolled her eyes. Macey held up a pink shirt. "C'mon. This'll look pretty on you, and you can't wear sweats to Jane's. It's inappropriate."

"And you know how I love to follow the rules. That's pink, by the way. No."

Macey rolled her eyes. "It's _magenta_-"

"I'm not wearing anything that sounds vaguely French. Or pink." Macey rolled her eyes and picked up the next one.

"This one is blue."

"I see that. It has lace. No."

"Only at the top!" Macey protested. Next shirt. Dark green sweater.

"Are we meeting the President or something?" Cammie asked. Then realized that was probably a bad metaphor. "Why do we need to dress up to go to the supermarket?"

Macey rolled her eyes. "You have gotten rid of the burden that's been... burdening you for two years. It's time to change." She held up the next shirt. Another sweater. White. V-neck, but not that low cut. She remembered it being really comfortable.

"That passes." Cammie muttered. Macey smiled.

"And wear it with the dark jeans."

"Don't push it."

"But it'll look good. Do you want me to your makeup?"

"No."

"Not even a simple mascara and smoky eye-"

"That doesn't sound remotely simple."

Macey sighed. "Fine. Go natural. Whatever."

"And I'm wearing it with sneakers."

"But- Fine. At least make it the white ones. Or the navy blue ones."

"Those are my _only_ pairs of shoes, Macey. That and my work shoes."

Macey gasped. "Really?" Cammie nodded. "Ready yet? Let's go. Wait. We need to get you coffee. We'll get it at Jane's. Come on. Wow. I like your hair. Very sloppy-chic." Apparently, not washing it for two days was fashionable now. Cammie decided not to tell Macey that. Macey dragged Cammie out the door.

--

A six pack of bagels for twelve bucks; and that was when they were on sale. Ridiculous. Zach put the bagels back on the shelf. There were reasons why he avoided Jane's. First, it was overcrowded with suburban soccer moms and golfer's wives. Second, it was way overpriced and everything was so... small.

But Helen had insisted. And he had seen her in combat before. Not something you wanted to mess with.

Zach held a basket in one hand, which Helen was slowly filling up. Did he want to be here? Not really. In fact, today he had been planning on calling Cammie and asking her if she wanted to talk. Because he was still in shock over the whole baby thing. And was he expected not to be? First off, it was his. Second off, it had _died._

Still referring to it as, well, 'it'.

And Cammie was so nonchalant about it. Maybe it was the alcohol she had downed. Maybe it was the truth serum she had touched. After all, two years... _was a long time._ Right.

"Cheddar or Swiss?" Helen asked, holding up two blocks of cheese. Zach shrugged. He didn't care. "Swiss." Helen said, putting it in the basket. Then she thoughtfully looked at the cheddar. "Maybe both." She went on ahead. Zach looked at the price. Twenty bucks. Not on sale. He put both of them back on the shelf and followed Helen. Normally, he would run, but she had taken his car keys. Helen was a bit of a bitch, but she knew exactly what she was doing.

Again, part of what made him stay with her for so long.

"Zach. Come on." Helen called. Now she was holding organic soda. Zach frowned.

"Do you really need that?" Zach sighed. Helen shrugged.

"Never know." She walked away again, and Zach picked up a can, looking at the price.

--

"Three bucks for a soda?" Cammie asked, putting the can back on the shelf. Macey rolled her eyes and put some eggs into the cart.

"Welcome to Jane's," Macey said. "Anyways. We're going to go around the store twice. Once for the bare necessities, the second time for anything that you want." Cammie took a long sip of her coffee. The coffee was delicious, but also cost four dollars abd fifty cents. "We should've made a list." Macey took out her new phone (apparently, she had broken the other one when she saw Lindsay on the bed) and start to press some keys. "Bread. Yogurt. Milk. Cereal. Apples. Strawberries. Cherries. I think the blackberries are on sale, too. Pasta. Butter. Bagels. Peanut butter. Muffins."

"That's a lot of fruits. And breakfast pastries."

"It's good for you." Cammie rolled her eyes. "What else? Energy drinks. Oh. Coffee. And a coffee machine. They have these really cute ones that look like they're made of bamboo."

"Um, no."

Macey backspaced. "Fine. We can get that at Starbucks." Cammie rolled her eyes again. "So, the bread and bagels are over here." She walked over to the next aisle. "Look, they're on sale."

"They're still twelve bucks." Cammie said. "Holy shit. Who even wants to eat whole wheat bagels? That destroys the magic of bagels." Macey rolled her eyes and tossed a bag into the cart.

"Bread. What kind of bread do you want?"

"There are different types of bread?" Cammie asked incredulously. She looked at the plastic bags. There were. Butter topped. Whole wheat and grain. "White bread would do."

"Butter topped?" Macey asked absentmindedly.

Cammie shrugged. "The cheapest one."

Macey sighed again. "Okay. Now. Milk is down there in the fridges. There's raw milk, pasturized milk, soy milk, lactose free milk, non fat, low fat, whole fat, vitamin D, one percent, two percent..."

Cammie had never faced a harder decision in her life. "Non fat, with vitamin D?" Cammie guessed. Macey pulled on out immediately. Cammie gave her friend a look.

"Yogurt's down here. Different flavors, or a variety pack."

"Let's just get that," Cammie said hurriedly. They picked up the yogurt, then went to the fruit section. "Just so you know, this is really boring, and I'd rather go clothes shopping with you and Bex." Macey and Bex were horrible when shopping. First, they were impulse buyers. Second, they could never decide which looked better, which just made them buy both (see reason one). Then, they dragged Cammie back to the mall because they finally decided which one was better and return the not-so-good one.

Going shopping with Macey and Bex was harder than several missions that Cammie had gone on. "Great, we can do that after!" Macey said cheerfully. Then she looked at Cammie's face. "Joking." Cammie smiled.

"Next on the list?"

"Pasta. You do know how to make pasta, right? And adding water and sticking it in the microwave doesn't count," Macey added.

Cammie nodded. "Boil it, strain it, put cheese on it. Not that hard."

"Great. Pasta time." Cammie pushed the cart towards the aisle three rows over and looked down. Shit. She stopped the cart and backed up. Macey stumbled backwards. "What's wrong?" She asked immediately. Cammie twisted the cart around and headed in the opposite direction.

"Zach's there with Helen," Cammie muttered.

Macey coughed. "Zach? With Helen? Wait, who's Helen?" Macey asked.

Cammie closed her eyes. "His ex-wife." Macey stared.

"Did I hear you wrong or something?"

"Ex-wife?"

"Oh my God." Macey peeked into the aisle. "What's he doing here with his ex-wife?"

--

"You're still my husband, so stop acting like you're not." Helen said. Zach sighed. "You probably don't even know what tomorrow is."

"Probably don't," Zach said, keeping his answers short and curt.

Helen looked at some scented candles, dropping a couple vanilla ones into the nearly-full basket. Then she examined some red ones, picking them up and sniffing them. "It's our anniversary."

_Fuck._

Zach mentally counted the days, weeks, months.

And, regretfully, he realized she was right. Three hundred and sixty five days. Fifty two weeks. Twelve months. He had been with her for that long. Helen smirked. "That's what I thought." She moved forward again.

_Zach, you're screwed._

**Sign the papers tonight. You'll be fine.**

_Okay, buddy. Take some advice, don't do anything at night._

**Sign them in the afternoon. Make sure Grant's with you.**

_Grant won't do crap. Think about it. She's outsmarted you. Again._

_--_

Cammie used the self checkout rapidly.

"I think you like him," Macey told Cammie straight up. Cammie looked up, raised an eyebrow, then went right back to bagging. "Seriously. Why else would you be so freaked out about the ex-wife? I mean, I get it. But something's deeper here."

"Um, no."

"C'mon. It's only Zach. What's wrong?" Macey asked. Cammie gave her friend a look.

"It's Zach. That's reason enough."

"Okay, so you don't like him," Macey confirmed. Cammie nodded and slid her credit card in the little slot. "Great. Let's go say hi." Macey looked towards the door then back at Cammie, raising both of her eyebrows. Cammie glared at Macey. "Okay, so you _do_-"

"Okay, I'll say hi," Cammie assured Macey. "Don't expect it to be heartwarming though." She tore off the receipt and stuffed it in a bag, then heaved all of the bags back onto the shopping cart.

"No, I got it," Macey said, taking the cart. "Go say hi."

"You're so immature," Cammie told Macey. Macey shrugged and nudged her forward with the cart.

"Go."

--

"Then what is it?" Helen hissed.

"You know I don't have any feelings for you, and I never really did," Zach shot back. "I barely realized that the _welcome_ ceremony was a _wedding_."

"Then why did you stay? I've given you papers three times. This time is the fourth. Each time, you never sign it, and you'd have to wait another three months to be valid again." Helen said.

"That's because the past three times you didn't really give me _time_ to sign." Zach muttered. Helen crossed her arms over her chest, then looked over his shoulder. He turned around.

"Hey! I thought it was you," Cammie said in an overly happy voice. She smiled brightly. She looked a little healthier than she had yesterday and the day before, but looked mildly hungover. Again. Helen sighed loudly when Cammie looked away. "Um, so, I was thinking-"

"That we need to talk?" Zach asked.

Cammie's smile froze. "Um, yes, that's one thing. And also that I might do one last blackout."

Zach frowned. "Why?"

"I'm only one more blackout mission from getting another clearance level," Cammie told Zach. "But that's good news, because then you aren't stuck with me until a couple weeks," she joked, looking at Helen and then back at Zach, as if she understood.

"But we should talk. We need to talk. Talking is... good," Cammie swallowed. "Talk. Okay. Macey's coming. My car's just over there." She gestured towards the little black parked directly in front of Helen. "Nice seeing you again, Zach, Helen."

"Cammie," Helen acknowledged. Macey came out with her sunglasses (even if it were the beginning of winter) on. Helen raised another eyebrow at Macey.

"Hey Zach," Macey called. "Didn't know you were into organic stuff." Zach smiled tightly and held up the plastic bags that were straining at his fingers. Macey smiled and began to pile the groceries into Cammie's car.

"Nice ring," Macey said to Helen, who was now leaning against Zach's car. Helen twisted the cheaply done spur-of-the-moment wedding band-type ring around her finger. "Where'd you get it?"

"It's an heirloom," Zach said quickly. "I think Cammie's waiting." Macey threw Zach a suspicious look, but climbed into the car.

--

"You need to talk to him," was the first thing Macey said to Cammie when she climbed into the car. "Seriously."

Cammie, however wasn't really paying attention. She had one arm outside of the window. "She scratched my car," Cammie said.

"What?" Macey asked.

"She scratched my car. There's a huge key mark in it."

"Okay. You seriously need to talk to him."

* * *

**ah, crap ending, i'm sorry. =[  
**

things you should know/review questions:  
-thank lilia natalie/liliagryffindor'sheir somenumbers or something like that for the chapter. she asked me to post it so she could read it because her internet would be out. so yeah. =]  
-yes. to clarify, helen and zach are indeed still married.  
-two more chapters. omg.  
-err, the general. theories, favorite line, suggestions...?  
-i'm almost done with ch. 1 of eye candy spy candy. =] i'm proud. all this writing. yesh.  
-jane's was based off of whole foods. =] i hate going there. so many sweater sets, i swear.  
-aha. the** i love you** thing is coming in the next chapter. excited? i sorta am. tension. i love it. =]  
-ack! need title suggestions for the next chapter. the plot is: zach and cammie talk. that's pretty much it. so... yeah. submit ideas.

okay. peace. =]


	7. just another word i never learned

i did extensive research for this. meaning, i googled porsche paint job prices. =] (btw. not. cheap.)

special thanks: asha (commander in blue) for the title inspiration. and having cool vocabulary.

note: josh is gone. on... vacation...? i don't care. he's out. and, the first bit is sorta slow. and then i didn't know how to transition, so it gets really fast. er, yeah.**  
**

* * *

"So, you're still married," Grant clarified. Zach nodded. Macey had told Bex about a certain ring, then Bex had promptly told Grant, who had come into his office, followed by his fiancée. And he still had to talk to Cammie.

Bex scowled. "Can't I beat him up? Just a little bit? He'll be healed in a month, I swear," Bex promised.

"You are not beating up my best friend." Grant told Bex. "Even if he is-"

"So full of jackassery it makes you look like an angel?" Bex completed. Zach couldn't help but wonder what they'd be like when they actually were married.

"I'm still right here," Zach said. "In my office. Where I can hear you."

"I don't care. You're telling her."

Zach frowned. "She doesn't even like me. Not even as a coworker."

"Yeah. But you two still need to talk. And it's not even going to be a closet talk. You two are going to sit down and have coffees and pastries and _talk._" Bex ordered.

"Closet talk?" Grant and Zach asked together. Bex rolled her eyes.

"Yeah. Everytime you come back from a solo mission, you drag whoever you had last been screwing into a closet and give them some sort of monologue about how it never was a relationship and that you two will both move on and find better people," Bex said brightly. "Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about. Grant used to do it too. He even tried to do it to me."

"Yeah, and now I'm engaged to her, so you probably shouldn't give a-" Grant looked at Bex oddly. "Closet talk? to her."

"Oh, but bring her back by four. We have a gown fitting," Bex said, standing up. She left, then Grant turned back to Zach.

"Man, I haven't even thought about renting a tux and they're already 'gown fitting'." Grant said. "Women are crazy."

Like he needed to be told that.

* * *

"Give me the key," Liz ordered, flicking on the projector screen. Cammie handed over the stolen key. Liz laid it down on the little slot in her microscope and zoomed in, then reexamined the paint that Cammie had scraped off her car. "Yep. It's a match." Cammie sighed. "So, what does that mean? You know who scratched your car?"

Cammie nodded. "Yeah."

Liz turned off the projector. "Who?"

"Hopefully, nobody," Cammie told Liz. She closed her eyes. _Probably not.

* * *

_

"Ten grand," the mechanic said. Cammie gaped.

"Ten grand? As in, ten thousand dollars?" Cammie asked. She knew it would be expensive, but she wouldn't estimate over five thousand dollars. It was just a key mark, after all.

"Yep. It's a nice car. An _expensive_ car. And the paint job is going to be _expensive_." The man said. Cammie resisted tackling and/or shooting him on the spot.

"Okay." Cammie said, breathing evenly. "Keep it black. Just make sure the key mark is gone."

"Be done in two hours," the mechanic said cheerfully. _You better be._

She walked out of the repair shop, feeling vaguely hungry. She spotted a pizza place across the street and made way immediately, then slowed suddenly. Footsteps were behind her. She looked at the shadow outline and calculated the weight of the steps. Yeah. She had a pretty good guess as to whom it was. She gritted her teeth.

"There's coincidences and then there's stalking," Cammie said, turning around. "And I can get a restraining order for stalking."

"We need to talk." Zach said simply.

"You owe me ten grand. Pay up, maybe we'll talk," Cammie snapped, before pulling open the door to the pizza shop and entering.

Ten grand? Zach caught the door and entered after her. "Why do I owe you ten thousand dollars?"

"Your wife scratched my car. And yes, it costs ten grand, and yes, that's a lot of money."

Zach felt blood rush to his head for a moment. Cammie knew about Helen? But then he looked back at her and realized she was just being snarky. Typical. He still didn't understand why she hated him so much. Yeah, he had left. But really, she didn't even know about the baby until later on.

Immediately, he resented himself to think that. A pregnancy was still a pregnancy, and a miscarriage -if even was that- was still a miscarriage.

"Great. I'll pay you later. But for now, we need to talk," Zach pushed. His patience was running thin. She walked up to the counter and ordered a plain cheese. He took a moment away from being impatient to wonder who on earth would waste a slice of pizza with just cheese. Cammie slid into a booth, still not talking. "Fine. You can talk after I do."

She shrugged, as if to say _go ahead._

Zach took a breath. "What's wrong? With you, or me, or whoever. Everytime you talk to me, it's short and curt answers-"

"Says Zachary Goode."

"And then you tell me you were pregnant excpet it _died-"_

"More memories I would love to relive."

"-and then you don't talk to me about it. You just-"

"Throw my hormone ridden self at you?"

"-and then you act all cold towards Helen-"

"Your way of calling me jealous."

"-and I still don't understand why you just won't talk to me." Zach finished. At least it was out now.

Out of the billion thoughts that ran through her mind, the loudest one screamed "ZACHARY GOODE I ABSOLUTELY HATE YOU YOU CAN GO FALL OFF A CLIFF", but she figured if she said that out loud, A) she'll get kicked out of the pizza place, B) Zach would try to talk to her again. So instead, she took a deep breath and sorted the rest of the thoughts out.

"First of all, you have no idea the _looks_ I got after you left," Cammie started. "Before, I was actually someone. After, I was just another girl on the list of Zach's screw overs. People felt _sympathetic_ for me. And somehow, the fact that I got shot and the fetus...thing died turned into Cameron Morgan is a pathetic whiny bitch who tried to get Zach to stay with her by getting knocked up with his... spawn." Zach flinched at her wording. "Secondly, not only did other people feel sorry for me, you did too. I saw your emails to Grant. _Poor Cammie. Is she doing okay. Don't think I was too sudden?_" She paused, looking at Zach's face. He was looking down now. "You really think I didn't look through anything when I took your phone? I saw the first three months of your mission through emails at twelve AM." The waiter brought the pizza to her, but she ignored the waiter. "Third, this might be news, but _I got shot._ Two inches higher and I would've died. I think that gives me a pretty valid reason to hate someone."

Zach was definitely listening. Just still not looking at her. She was on a roll now. She had missed out two year's of her friend's lives because he had hurt her stupid pride. "Fourth reason? Two years, Zach. You have to realize you didn't only ditch me. Three months is fine. Six months is fine. A year is sort of pushing it. But two? God, half of us thought you were dead. Can I have the check and a box?" Cammie asked the waiter. She turned back to Zach. "Answer your questions? Because really, I have more-"

"No, it's fine," Zach assured her.

Cammie packed the pizza into the box and walked out of the pizza place.

* * *

Cammie sighed and looked in the mirror again. Yep. Zach's shiny BMW was still following her. God. He was horrible at reading people. Finally, she pulled over and got out. Zach got out too, and they met somewhere in the middle. "What now?" She asked.

"I-" He started to say, except his phone started to ring. Cammie snuck a glance at the caller ID. Helen. Of course. "Sorry. I have to take this." He apologized. Cammie raised an eyebrow. "Hey, Helen." She blew a sigh.

"Ask her if her fridge is running," Cammie said sarcastically, leaning against her car.

"I'm busy right now." Zach said. "Fine. Three hours. Whatever. Bye."

"You forgot the punchline," Cammie said.

"Aha, funny," Zach replied, not sounding amused.

"So what do you want?" Cammie asked sharply. Something important was happening today. If only she could remember.

"Right, so after everything you just told me," Zach started. Cammie waited. "Do you want to have dinner sometime?" He asked suddenly.

"You're fucking kidding," was Cammie's first answer. _I wish._ Stupid impulses. "I think you just asked me out." Sort of. Not really. On impulse. Did impulses count? "No." She said. Which caught Zach by surprise. Because really, he wasn't the kind of guy to get by someone who had just listed four very elaborate reasons to why she hated him._ Yeah. Cocky much?_ He could already hear Macey's voice say, "Why would I want to go to dinner with you. I can't even stand you." In monotone.

And now he had to explain. He could lie. He was great at lying. Because the truth, _'I dunno. It was just something random that popped into my head that seemed like a good idea except now you're looking at me like I'm a piece of trash so I don't think my subconscious is that trustworthy anymore.' _sounded a bit... like his old self. Pre-married, one-girl-a-month self.

He didn't like that self.

"Maybe I like you," Zach ventured, aiming for a light, joking manner. Cammie raised an eyebrow at the sudden change of mood. And she actually played along with it. Again, which caught Zach by surprise. She seemed to be doing a lot of that lately.

"Okay," she said, smiling. "Great. We'll have dinner." Which was leaving Zach confused, and wondering if Cammie had a severe bipolar disorder. "If you tell me the one thing you have never told anyone else before." He got kicked out of eight schools. His parents died when he was ten. He used have extremely bad vision. He'd tried drugs in highschool._ Great ideas, except Cammie doesn't care about that. Dumbass._Cammie stared at him. "Come on."

What did Zachary Goode never ever say? Maybe he'd finally go away when he realized what she meant.

"Three words, eight letters," Cammie listed. "I."

Zach finally got it. And he still dragged out the moment. "I..." He probably thought she was actually attracted to him. After forty-eight seconds, Cammie shrugged and walked back to her car door.

"That's what I thought," Cammie muttered.

"Okay, you didn't expect me to actually say it, right?" Zach asked, looking confused. Cammie climbed into her car and shook her head.

"Nope."

"Then what-"

Cammie sighed. Was he always this stupid? "Zach, have you ever told anyone you loved them?" Cammie asked, starting up her car. "No. You haven't. And you probably never will. I don't want a _date_ as a compensation for whatever you just now realized you did when you took off to Korea. I want everything to be normal."

"Then why did you ask me to tell you that I..." He trailed off.

"So that you'd go away _and stay away._ You're never going to say it. You're never going to have whatever it is you want with me. You'll just forget about me and move on. And maybe then something in my life won't be such a fucking daytime drama." Cammie snapped, and pulled away.

* * *

"Sorry I'm late," Cammie said, rushing in to the tailor's for her gown fitting see her three friends already stripped down to underwear with pieces of fabric stuck to them.

"It's fine," Bex said cheerily. "What held you up?"

Cammie made a face. "I finally talked to Zach."

Macey accidentally kicked out her foot. "What?" The tailor fell backwards. "Sorry!"

"Yeah." Cammie said. Silence.

"How'd it go?" Macey asked. "Good? Bad?"

Cammie pressed her lips together. "Um, it went... Great."

**"Great?"** Grant asked. Zach nodded. Grant frowned. "Great." Zach nodded again, filling out more paperwork. Grant shook his head and leaned forward. "Now tell me how it really went."

_"Okay,_ it was sort of intense," Cammie admitted. Something poked her side.

Bex, Macey, and Liz all looked at each other. "Okay, now you have to tell us."

"**So, **I followed her into that pizza place," Zach said. "And we had a little heart to heart." Grant gave him a look.

"Meaning?"

_"He_ asked me ten questions and I answered them accordingly." Cammie said, summarizing it up quickly.

"What about?" Liz asked.

Cammie counted them off on her fingers. "Me. Him. Relationships. The pregnancy thing. Helen."

**"The **pregnancy thing?" Grant asked. "Holy shit."

"Among others."

"Jesus."

"Yeah. I know."

_"And_ then I sort of bitched out on him," Cammie mumbled.

"Watch where you poke that damn thing!" Liz cried, swatting at her shoulder. "Sorry. Continue."

"Um, then I sort of made him pay for the ten thousand dollar paint job I had ordered," Cammie said. Wow. Was she always such a bitch?

**"So **she drives out of the repair shop, and I have to pay for the paint job. Wasn't cheap. Then I followed her to the city park." Zach stopped. He didn't really like the next part.

_"Continue!"_

"But it's so embarrassing. I am such a freakshow," Cammie said.

"Tell us. Now," Macey ordered.

"He sort of asked me out."

"WHAT?" The three girls shouted.

"At least, I think he did, but it was obviously compensation for all the crap I had just dumped on him."

**"It** was on impulse, Grant. Stop laughing." Zach said. Grant tried to hold a straight face.

"You have a death wish, my friend."

_"So_ first, I said no."

**"She** said no."

"Ouch."

"I asked why. Then she said yes."

"Whoa- wait-"

"But only if I told her- God. I don't want to think about it."

_"You _can't just end the story there! What did you ask him to say?"

"Okay! I told him to tell me her loved me. And only then would I go on the... date. Dinner. Thing." Cammie turned around so she wouldn't face the mirror. Her best friends gaped at her.

Surprisingly, Liz was the first to speak. "You're fucking kidding."

Cammie shook her head. "Unfortunately."

"Holy shit."

"Ohmygod."

"Bloody hell."

"Well, what did he say?" Liz pressed.

Cammie squeezed her eyes shut. "He didn't say I love you, if that's what you want to know. He's still Zach."

Liz nodded. "Yeah. He's allergic to 'I love you'."

"'I love you' intolerant."

"He probably breaks out when he says it."

"It makes his throat swell up."

"His nose runs."

"He projectile vomits."

"Ew, Liz!" Macey cried.

Liz shrugged. "It's common among allergies! Especially food allergies."

"Still, ew," Macey said. Then she lit up. "What if he says it?" She asked excitedly. Cammie rolled her eyes. "Don't roll your eyes, Cammie. It's possible. He did, after all, ask you to dinner."

"Compensation," Cammie yawned.

"It is highly improbable," Liz said. "No offense." She added to Cammie, who shrugged. "Zach doesn't work that way."

* * *

**things you should know/review questions:  
**-technically, he's still not divorced. oh, zach. you need to prioritize, my friend.  
-tell me if you think he'll say it in the next chapter.  
-i tried to make helen different from all the other airheaded blondies that people usually write.  
-i have half of the epilogue written out. it's funny. the top half anyways.

**ending quote!**

natalie: fuck you.  
keith: you just did, partner.

from _keith_. watch it. it's epic.


	8. cut the last tie

**sorry if you got two emails! i uploaded this than forgot my author's note. yeah. sorry.  


* * *

**

**EIGHT: CUT THE LAST TIE**

_three days later_

White shirt. Blue jeans. Black shoes. Blending in was simple. Cammie clipped a lie-detecting hairclip to keep her bun in place and put on her coat. In a way, she sort of missed blackout missions. They were quick. They were easy. Get in. Shoot. Get out. Wait for clean up. Some people punched pillows when they needed an emotional release. Cammie... killed people.

And she really, really needed an emotional release.

Cammie walked out of her apartment into the kitchen. Breakfast. She had the severely overpriced bagels from Jane's. And, of course, some left over ramen, which she had rescued from Macey and Bex's grasp when they had come over to "clean up" (see: toss out everything Cammie loved) her apartment. Cammie settled with some cornflakes.

She had just finished up when the phone rang. "Hello?"

"Can you meet me at that diner in about ten minutes?" Zach's voice asked. Cammie choked on her cereal. What? "Hello?"

"Repeat that?"

"Can you meet me in the diner in ten minutes?" Zach repeated.

Ignoring an impulse to hang up, Cammie swallowed. "I can't. I have to be somewhere in twenty." She had to be at some guy's penthouse, shooting him. But that wasn't exactly something he needed to know.

"It'll be really quick."

Cammie's mind swirled. First of all- why the hell would Zach want to meet her-

Oh. Right.

But wait. He'd actually tell her? Because she'd only said that to make him back off. And they hadn't spoken to each other in three days. _Where was Macey when you needed her?_ Cammie thought frantically. "I dunno. The place I have to be is twenty minutes away. And if I'm late..."

"I checked. The diner's on the way to the penthouse."

That bastard.

"Maybe." Cammie hung up. She sat still for a moment, then stood up and called the one person who had a chance of helping.

"Cammie! It's not even noon yet! What happened?" Macey yelled. "Preston- no, Preston, go away."

Cammie waited.

"Okay. Sorry. What's wrong? Did someone die?" Macey asked.

"Zach just called me."

On the other end, there was a thump. Then a bunch of static. "Sorry. Dropped the phone. What was that?"

"I'm just saying, if you by any chance find Zach's dead body in a diner, I had nothing to do with it."

"You're _going?"_

_"_Yep."

"Don't go."

"Okay."

"Wait- go. Go."

"Okay."

"Don't go."

"You know what, I think I'll just go, and if he pisses me off, at least I have a gun-"

"Don't."

"Go or kill?"

"Kill!"

"So, I go, but I don't kill."

"Right. Yes."

"Well, that's just a lose-lose situation."

"Go!"

Cammie sighed.

--

Zach yawned. He had had to get up at around five AM to make sure that A), he had evaded Helen, and B) get a spot at this specific diner. And he was _still_ gathering up all his willpower and courage to actually say it.

He could always make up a sob story. That seemed to work on TV.

_And this is why everyone thinks your an asshole._

He went back into the real world and looked around to see if Cammie had arrived yet. He sat up a little straighter when he saw a familiar figure, but it wasn't Cammie.

Zach sighed. "Shouldn't you be on the next plane to Seoul or something?"

Helen threw a couple papers down. "You missed a page." She sat down opposite of him and waited. Zach looked down, reading the papers, trying to make sure she wasn't marrying him again.

"I didn't really come here to bond with your ex-wife." Cammie's voice said. Zach looked up. Cammie stood at the table, one eyebrow raised.

"_Ex_-wife?" Helen asked, looking at Cammie, then back at Zach.

"Helen, can you go?" He snapped.

Helen sighed. "How many times do I have to tell you? You need a witness who was _at_-"

"Great. You can go and watch me sign these from the table three rows over. Thanks." Zach replied.

Helen shrugged, then slid out of the seat. Cammie tenatively slid in, taking her place. "You have about three seconds." Cammie said immediately. She glanced down at the papers. Zach quickly picked them up, putting the text out of her eyesight. Cammie could most definitely read Korean.

Zach didn't have a pen.

"I literally mean-"

"Do you have a pen?"

"Not exactly the words I was looking for," Cammie said. She pulled a pen out from her bag and rolled it towards him. And in the one second that Zach put the papers down to uncap it, Cammie took it and skimmed it quickly. Zach didn't even have any time to react. It was completely silent for two seconds, then Cammie looked back up, looking unimpressed.

--

"Still married," Cammie thought out loud. Somehow, she wasn't that surprised. She came in expecting very little, and yet he still managed to be subpar. Even then, anger boiled inside of her. Couldn't Zach just keep one simple thing.. simple? He had to make it complicated; get caught up in his own lies, then struggle. Cammie sighed and stood up.

"If you let me sign it-"

"This means you were still married when you told me you weren't." Cammie said. "Okay, seriously, I know spies lie, but you get the gold medal here." She tossed the papers back at him. "Don't try and cover it up. I can read Korean."

"But-"

"I only asked for one thing," Cammie cut him off. "I didn't expect you to do anything."

"Then why-"

"Haven't we been over this before?" Cammie asked. She nodded. "Yeah. You won't say it, you'll back off, you'll get off my back, my life won't be such a soap opera... Something along those lines."

"And-"

Cammie was growing impatient. A glance at the clock told her she was going to be late. "Zach, I never have and never will expect you to say it, because that's not your character. You're... _Zach._" She checked the time again. "And I'm late. I have to go." He tried to say something again, but Cammie ignored him.

-

Parking by a cafè near the penthouse, Cammie checked to make sure no cops were following her. She had, after all, broken _several_ speeding rules, as well as ran through a red light and didn't let a pedestrian pass when it was clearly a pedestrian crossing center.

And she was still late.

"Dammit," Cammie muttered, looking at the time blinking on her dashboard. She got out quickly. There was a man reading a newspaper outside of the cafè and... Cammie's stomach twisted. A limo driving through the streets.

"You're late," a voice called. Cammie turned around and looked at the man reading the newspaper. He lowered the paper and raised his eyebrow. "Sorry, Miss Morgan. Guess you're staying level seven."

--

"So there's nothing you can do?" Zach asked. The Director shook his head. Zach sighed. "Why can't she just get another chance?"

"Agent Morgan has already signed back onto the team. That was her one chance." The Director said. Zach frowned. "Sorry, Agent Goode. But rules are rules."

"But it's only one clearance level," Zach argued.

The Director shrugged. "She'll get in time, I guess." That wouldn't do. Zach deflated a little bit. "May I ask you why you want to get Miss Morgan a clearance level?"

"Well, I kind of kept her from achieving the goal." The Director nodded, then looked down at some paperwork. Zach thought about how he could persuade the Director to give him the extra clearance level. But what could he say?

"That's definitely a reason. But it's not good enough." The Director looked sympathetic.

Zach swallowed. "What if I told you something I couldn't really tell Cammie?"

* * *

**things you should know/review questions:**  
-it was short. i know. i apologize. i just figured that was a good ending point.  
-i love chuck bass.  
-no questions, i guess.

**special thanks:** lilythesilly for being an awesome idea board and for being as obsessed with chuck bass as i am. =] read her stories. go.


	9. epilogue

**note: **lotsa language in the beginning. bex is severely stressed out. she cusses. that is all.

* * *

**EPILOGUE: SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW**

_one month later_

"Where the fuck is Grant?"

"I didn't order those flowers, I swear."

"Why is my dress so tight?"

"Owowowowow, these heels are killing me."

"Grant! Where's Grant? Bloody hell-"

"My bouquet!"

"Where's my necklace?"

"Is the music ready?"

"It's in thirty minutes. Oh shit."

"Who's seen Grant?"

"Does anyone have an extra tampon?"

"Hairspray!"

"Where _the fuck_ is Grant? You can't have a bloody wedding without the bloody groom!"

"I'm calling him, I'm calling him. Calm down."

"I need a tampon. Now."

"I need a bobby pin."

"Where's my lipstick?"

"The salmon! My mom doesn't eat meat. Where's the salmon?"

"Oh my God."

"Grant? Hello? Fuck, it's voicemail."

"Liz! I think I'm wearing your shoes."

"Shit. Shit. Shit. Grant. Pick the fuck up!"

"Cammie! Have you seen Grant?"

"No, I just got here-"

"Oh, bloody hell."

"God. I hope Zach didn't get him too drunk."

"I think I'm allergic to lilies-"

"Cam! Put on your dress!"

"Sorry!"

"I need a drink."

"I'll get it."

"Where's Grant?"

"I don't know."

"Dammit. Cammie- Don't get dressed!"

"What? You just told me to-"

"Wait. No. Can you call Zach and ask him where Grant is?"

"No. You do it."

"Oh, for God's sake."

"Okay! I'm calling."

"Grant better be with him, I swear to God."

"Wait- I just got a text from him."

"Me too!"

"What does it say? Oh, give it to me."

"_This is a mass text message. Where am I?"_

"I'm killing Zach."

"I second that motion."

"You'll second any motion that involves hurting Zach."

"And I have a good reason for it, too."

"Call!"

--

Zach looked down at his very hungover and very confused best friend. "Grant, you're at the office," Zach told him, looking down at his phone, where he had just received a text from him. "Grant. You're at the office."

"Mm." Grant's voice mumbled. Zach sighed. His phone vibrated again, and Zach looked down. It wasn't another text from Grant. It was worse.

"Cammie?" Zach answered.

"Is Grant with you?" Cammie asked immediately, skipping hellos.

Zach looked at the body slumped half on the floor and half on a chair. "Yeah."

Cammie sighed on the other line. "Great. Where are you?"

Zach looked around. "At the office."

"You had a bachelor's party at the office?" Cammie asked, almost laughing. Almost.

Zach considered telling the truth, then promptly decided against it. "We had a lot of paperwork to do."

"Mm. Sounds fun," Cammie muttered. "I'm on my way." She hung up.

--

Cammie grumbled. She just happened to be the only one who was late. And the only one still in street clothes. And the only one who could pick up Grant. Who, wow, was with Zach. She had some really bad karma. And why couldn't Zach just drive a hungover Grant to the wedding himself? Cammie's two seater could hardly fit three full grown people.

Cammie swerved, very narrowly missing a huge truck. The driver honked at her, and she resisted flipping him off and/or shooting him.

Who had a bachelor's party at an office anyways? It sounded really suspicious. But she couldn't care about it.

Cammie pulled into her spot in the parking lot and got out. She entered the complicated passcode, got her eye scanned, her finger print taken, and her weight recorded, then entered. She saw Grant's head on the floor of Zach's office, and she took a small moment to roll her eyes. Grant was such a moron.

"The ceremony was scheduled to start in thirty minutes," Cammie told Zach, walking into his office and looking at Grant, who was oddly passed out half on the floor and half on a chair. "Is he alive?"

"I think so." Zach said. Cammie walked out and went to the kitchen, grabbing some ice water. She came back inside and poured it on Grant's head. Grant shot up immediately, sputtering and shaking his head. He kicked his legs off of the chair and sat up on the floor.

"What the hell, Cammie!" Grant yelled, then put his hands to his temples.

"You're getting married in thirty minutes," Cammie told him. "Come on."

"Mehrghh," Grant said. Cammie looked at Zach.

"Can you lift him up?" Zach shrugged, and heaved him up to feet. "Grant. You're getting married. Remember? Bex? Built like a, quote, Playboy bunny with more muscles, unquote? Yeah. And if you don't marry her within the next thirty minutes, she's going to contact the rest of the female population and tell them to never talk to you, and you'll have a sexless, loveless, single life."

"Mm. I remember." Grant mumbled. "Okay. We should go." He tried to walk, and promptly fell back down to the floor.

Cammie sighed and took a Napotine patch out of her bag. She peeled it away and slapped it onto Grant's forehead. He crumpled. Zach stared at her. "What was that for?" Zach asked. Cammie shrugged.

"Napotine patches are the best cures for hangovers."

Zach blinked. "I don't want to know how you found that out." Cammie gave him a cold smile.

"Get him into the car." Cammie walked away, leaving Zach to carry Grant out. "Yours or mine?" Cammie asked, and she gave Zach a look that said _If you turn it into a pick up line I will kill you._ Zach pressed his lips together.

"Mine. It's bigger." She could see the beginnings of one right there, but decided to let him live. He unlocked his car, and she climbed in. A couple seconds later, Grant's body was in the backseat and Zach was next to her. They drove in silence for a couple minutes, then Zach opened his mouth.

"So, the weather-"

"You cost me a clearance level. Say one more word to me and I'll tear out your tonsils."

--

Ouch. _I guess one month isn't long enough for Cammie._ Then he remembered. Even two years wasn't enough. Yeah, he was pretty much screwed. Maybe he could transfer out again.

Zach pressed down on the gas pedal, accelerating over the speed limit.

He looked behind his shoulder back at Grant. "Maybe you should take off the Napotine patch," Zach said. Cammie looked back too and shrugged, then peeled it off. It would take about thirty seconds for him to be conscious again, but they'd be at the wedding place by then.

And sure enough, as soon as Grant started to move, Zach pulled into the parking lot. Cammie got out immediately, and Zach poked his head into the backseat. "You okay?" He asked Grant.

"Yeah. I feel great, actually," Grant replied, grinning like an idiot. "Shit! My wedding's in twenty minutes. He stumbled out of the car and sprinted into the building.

Zach frowned, then went inside his car again. He almost forgot something. He opened the glove compartment and took out a sheet of paper. Tucking it into his pocket, he walked in after Grant.

--

"Ow," Cammie told Macey, who was twisting her hair very painfully.

"Sorry, no time to be gentle," Macey muttered. "I'm almost done." Cammie tugged at her dress. "Okay. You're ready." Cammie let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding in. "Oh, you look gorgeous. Remind me to take a picture. I want you to look like this at my wedding."

"Oh God," Cammie said, wondering if she could handle another one.

"Red is totally your color," Macey continued.

"Where's my maid of honor?" Bex screamed. "Oh. There you are. We need to get ready." Cammie nodded. "Oh my gosh, Cammie. I'm getting married."

_four hours later_

"... and I don't know if it was the makeup, or maybe the wine, or something, but I just thought to myself, wow, she really is beautiful," Grant concluded. "I love you."

"He's drunk," Macey confirmed to Cammie. Cammie nodded. But Bex was looking flattered all the same. "Okay. The cousin at three o'clock and the older brother at four o'clock are both staring at you. Oh, and the uncle at six o'clock. Or maybe he's staring at the cake. I don't really know." Cammie gave her a friend a look. "What? Just sayin'. If I weren't engaged, though, I'd go for the cousin. He has a nice jaw."

"I'm not dating any of Grant's relatives."

"But it'll make you and Bex in the same family. It's beautiful."

"Oh my God, Macey." Cammie said. Macey shrugged and talked to Preston. Cammie looked around. Next to her were Bex's parents, then Gratn's parents. And across from them was Grant, Bex, and Liz. Grant and Bex were both talking to their parents, and Liz was talking at top-speed to an uncle.

Of course, Zach was nowhere to be found (and neither was one of Grant's sisters.).

Cammie looked back at Macey, who was now making letters with her beans. Maybe not Macey.

Feeling slightly claustrophobic, Cammie got up and went back to the dressing room. It was eight o'clock already. She rifled through her bag, looking for the little flask she liked to keep with her. Instead of cold metal, however, she felt something soft. Paper. Confused, she pulled it out.

_DO NOT DISPOSE OF THIS FORM._

_This is the official letter from the desk of the Director of the CIA. It grants _**Cameron Ann Morgan** _sublevel eight clearance. It's privileges are attached._

_This was applied from a third party._

_CIA_

**sublevel 8 clearance**

Cammie blinked, her mind blank. She flipped the paper over.

_I might not be able to say it, but I can still try._

_I'll be at the office until midnight. Just so you know._

_-Z_

_

* * *

_hai. review. chuck bass. bye.

kidding.

questions/things you need to know:  
-did you like the ending?  
-eye candy, spy candy is going to be updated after this. literally. but be warned, they are quite boring. boringish. chapters. yeah. that was... okay.

**omg it's a moment.** my second complete story. and it has a plot. woot.


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